Kathy Murray’s Treatment Fund

March 2019 Update

First, we & the Murrays want to say Thank You SO MUCH to all supporters. You have truly played an important a part in easing this difficult time for Kathy, Trevor, and family.

We want to share an update on how Kathy is doing and her treatment plans. In general- Kathy is doing well! All who know her know that she’s tenacious and has a sense of humor- those traits are helping her as she moves through this journey. Trevor has been able to take 5 weeks off to take care of Kathy and the boys and they’ve been using your generous contributions to cover rent, and daily living costs, along with transportation to medical appointments, etc. while he was not getting a paycheck.

THANK YOU for helping make this possible!

On March 6, Kathy went to her oncologist, who is helping create her follow up treatment plan. Right now, they believe there is less than 1% of the Glioma left. Unfortunately it is malignant and pathology has shown that some of the mass is considered stage 3, so Kathy’s doctors want to move aggressively to address any future growth as soon as Kathy is healed from surgery. To that end, Kathy will be undergoing both chemotherapy and radiation for a 6 week period, starting in early April.

Currently the best option for Kathy’s radiation treatment is proton radiation, which means unfortunately that she will need to travel to New Jersey every day for six and a half weeks. The facility is over an hour away from their home in Astoria.

Unfortunately, Kathy’s insurance denied coverage of the proton treatment because it is out of state. A proton treatment center is being built in NYC but it won’t be open until the summer, which her doctor said is too long for Kathy to wait. Kathy and family are going to be paying out of pocket for the treatment- which is $20,000.

Along with this new medical expense, they will need childcare for their two-year-old son during her treatment. Trevor went back to work today, March 26th.

For these reasons, we’re increasing the goal of this project to $30,000, to be used to help pay for the proton radiation and chemotherapy treatment, and expenses and so that they can have a short-term child care provider while Kathy is in treatment and Trevor works to maintain their insurance coverage and day-to-day needs.

The Murrays are also seeking support from Cancer Cares and are appealing the insurance denial as well. If they end up getting the treatment covered, donations will be used to cover childcare, travel, food and rent while Kathy is in treatment, and any remaining will be used to support the family as this journey continues. Kathy will likely have to do at least one more round of chemo in the near future, and will need monitoring for the rest of her life.

If you are able to contribute again, your support is so appreciated.

Please, share this page as you are able so that we can help Kathy and Trevor and their sweet boys make it through this, and hopefully get through to a more happy and healthy time.

With love,

Amanda, Carissa, and Julia

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Kathy is a fun-loving mama to two sweet boys under 5 here in Astoria, Queens. Kathy and her husband Trevor are known in our community for being warm, generous neighbors, always willing to lend a helping hand.

2019 started for Kathy with a month of headaches and other concerning symptoms. On the week of Valentine’s day and Kathy and Trevor’s 5th wedding anniversary- doctors found a brain tumor which had to be removed ASAP. Thankfully, after hours of CT scans, MRIs, and brain surgery, they were able to remove 99% of the mass.

Now, Kathy’s recovery begins. Kathy- a full time caregiver to her young boys- is not allowed to drive, walk long distances, bend, or lift until her recovery is complete- and we’re not sure how long that will take. Anyone raising small children in NYC knows how hard this will be.

Trevor will take off as much time as he can, but taking care of both boys, the household, and Kathy’s recovery- with her mobility restrictions, follow up testing, appointments and more- will still be a challenge.

We are starting a fund to help the Murrays cover the costs of transportation, food, child care, and any other needs that may arise.

We know the Murrays have friends near and far who want to support them in their time of need. Any donations will be accepted with gratitude-Let’s show this awesome Astoria family some love!