Lend a Hand to Shannon's Cancer Recovery

My good friend and colleague Shannon O'Connor was diagnosed with Trichilemmal Carcinoma, an extremely rare hair follicle tumor. She underwent two surgeries followed by lab tests, ongoing wound care and treatment, and scans. The cost of these procedures and treatments has begun to weigh her down. Anyone who knows Shannon knows what a caring and kind individual she is, and it's our turn to direct some of the positivity she puts out into the world back toward her!

Shannon first noticed what she thought was a cyst on the left side of her head in 2020, when the entire world was dealing with a major pandemic. It was very difficult to see a doctor during this time. She finally called Knott Street Dermatology and explained that she had a very large cyst on the back of her scalp. It was very painful; she couldn’t lay her head on her pillow where it was located or put any pressure on it whatsoever, and it was getting larger. They told her to come in right away. This was two days before her birthday last year on July 11th. The doctor determined that it needed to be surgically removed and sent to a lab for analysis immediately. Shannon had surgery on July 24th. She was given a local anesthetic and was awake for the entire surgical procedure. After a grueling wait, she was told that it was a Trichilemmal carcinoma, an extremely rare and aggressive hair follicle tumor that is thought to occur from a malignant transformation of a benign trichilemmoma.

Shannon was initially relieved when the doctor said that they had gotten it all, but that relief faded when she was informed that due to the aggressive nature of the cancer, she would need to undergo Mohs surgery to remove additional tissue around the perimeter of the wound to assure that it was indeed completely removed. With the completion of both surgeries, she was left with an extremely large wound on the back of her scalp. A DermaClose Continuous External Tissue Expander was sutured to her scalp. Shannon visited the doctor’s office twice a week so that the device could be tightened to close the large wound and speed the healing process. This also included ongoing dressing changes. The pain was absolutely excruciating, but Shannon toughed it out with nothing but Tylenol for pain (keeping track of her daily dose so she wouldn’t damage her liver permanently in the process).

Thankfully, subsequent scans showed the cancer had not spread to any other parts of her body and she is healing well, but she needs our help! Your support would provide not only financial relief, but also encouragement to her during this difficult time as she navigates the road to recovery! Your kindness would mean the world to her during this difficult time. Thank you, and please keep her in your thoughts.