Laurie Lindow's Stage 4 Cancer Treatment Fund
Donation protected
The last two + years of fighting Melanoma have been rough for Laurie, but it’s about to get real - in a good way. If you’ve been hoping and praying and wanting to help but didn’t know how – this is your opportunity to contribute and to reduce her mental and financial burden!
Many surgeries and a variety of treatments have lead us to this place, on the doorstep of the most promising and potentially curative therapy available today for metastatic melanoma. It’s called TIL, short for Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes. Due to its cutting-edge, technically difficult protocol – it’s only offered at four places in the world, including MD Anderson in Houston, TX. Given Laurie’s young age and advanced disease, she was identified as a potential candidate for TIL last Fall and referred to MD Anderson for surgery to remove a new melanoma tumor growing on her shoulder. This in turn allowed them to isolate and grow up the T cells already attacking her cancer (around the tumor), but were just too few in number to do the job. These cells are now billions in number - her own cancer killing cells, just waiting to be introduced back into Laurie’s system and take over!
Ironically, that’s the easy part. The hard part is everything else that goes with it. She is looking at a minimum 6 weeks stay at MD Anderson during this initial treatment, as well as several follow up visits . She will receive high dose chemotherapy to prepare her system for her ‘new immune system’ and will sport a beautiful bald head. She will receive IL-2 along with the cells and many times afterwards, which boosts the immune system (and these newly introduced cells), but makes you feel like crap. She’ll incur lots of travel, incidentals (like for a fabulous collection of post-chemo wigs), and housing costs as will her marvelous support army including and lead by boyfriend Elliott, parents Tom & Frances, sister Jackie, and countless friends, cousins, neighbors … who will travel to Houston also. This fund is being set up to directly support Laurie’s MD Anderson treatment cure!
By nature, Laurie isn't one to ask for help in any aspect of her life, and is overwhelmed with graidutue for the love and support over the past 2 years. We will be setting up a direct line of communicaton to keep everyone up to date with her journey.
Many surgeries and a variety of treatments have lead us to this place, on the doorstep of the most promising and potentially curative therapy available today for metastatic melanoma. It’s called TIL, short for Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes. Due to its cutting-edge, technically difficult protocol – it’s only offered at four places in the world, including MD Anderson in Houston, TX. Given Laurie’s young age and advanced disease, she was identified as a potential candidate for TIL last Fall and referred to MD Anderson for surgery to remove a new melanoma tumor growing on her shoulder. This in turn allowed them to isolate and grow up the T cells already attacking her cancer (around the tumor), but were just too few in number to do the job. These cells are now billions in number - her own cancer killing cells, just waiting to be introduced back into Laurie’s system and take over!
Ironically, that’s the easy part. The hard part is everything else that goes with it. She is looking at a minimum 6 weeks stay at MD Anderson during this initial treatment, as well as several follow up visits . She will receive high dose chemotherapy to prepare her system for her ‘new immune system’ and will sport a beautiful bald head. She will receive IL-2 along with the cells and many times afterwards, which boosts the immune system (and these newly introduced cells), but makes you feel like crap. She’ll incur lots of travel, incidentals (like for a fabulous collection of post-chemo wigs), and housing costs as will her marvelous support army including and lead by boyfriend Elliott, parents Tom & Frances, sister Jackie, and countless friends, cousins, neighbors … who will travel to Houston also. This fund is being set up to directly support Laurie’s MD Anderson treatment cure!
By nature, Laurie isn't one to ask for help in any aspect of her life, and is overwhelmed with graidutue for the love and support over the past 2 years. We will be setting up a direct line of communicaton to keep everyone up to date with her journey.
Organizer and beneficiary
Katie Felten-Fauntleroy
Organizer
Denver, CO
Elliott Bath
Beneficiary