Let's all pull together for Amanda!!!
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My name is Betsy, Amanda is my best friend her story it explains it all. There is no amount to small and if you can't donate do me a favor and hit that share button. Thank you all in advance from her family and friends.
Amanda Burton isn't just a Cancer diagnosis. She is a Mother, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Mersista and friend to a huge support system that wants more than anything to make it all better. She is strong, independent, and hard working. She is adventurous, a hopeless romantic with an infectious smile and beautiful blue eyes that will light up a room as soon as she walks in. She is a Mermaid living her life to the fullest.
She's a single mother who has solely supported herself and her children for years. Her life hasn't been easy, with ups and downs, but through it all she has smiled through it and used the tough lessons to learn and grow while ensuring her children were always smiling too.
In the summer of 2019, Amanda started having pain in her stomach around her liver. She went to the doctor after the pain became too much to bare and she was unable to make it through the day without constant pain. After the doctor reviewed her symptoms, she was sent for bloodwork and CT Scans of her stomach to try to determine why she was having such pain. After what felt like eternity, the CT Scan showed lesions (tumors) on her liver. Amanda was then referred to Johns Hopkins Hospital where a team of doctors got to work trying to figure out what was going on. After more CT Scans, Bloodwork, doctors visits, and a PET Scan our whole family gathered in the Oncologists office to hear the news….Metastatic Colon Cancer.
At 38 years old, the doctors knew she had the strength to fight this Cancer and that is exactly what she did. She started with chemotherapy immediately, with her friends and family taking turns making the long hike from her home in Southern Maryland to Baltimore every other week for her infusions. She continued working and living her life with a smile on her face and love in her heart. After 6 weeks of Chemotherapy, they said that the tumors had shrunk 80% and we ended the year celebrating the great news.
In March, 2020 the medical team thought she was ready to undergo the liver resection surgery that would hopefully remove all or most of the remaining Cancer in her liver. Once again, her family rallied around her filling the surgery waiting room with love and support. Amanda was a trooper and spent a few days in ICU before being moved to a regular room. At this time, COVID-19 restrictions were implemented and we were not allowed to go see her. Amanda spent weeks in the hospital without being able to see her family. It was hard on her and her kids, but she pushed through with a smile on her face. After some complications, she was finally able to come home and start the healing process. Eventually, she would have another surgery to remove the remaining cancer from her colon and spent more time isolated in the hospital without being able to have visitors.
After her surgeries, she had to go back to the hospital a few times due to complications with her drain and dehydration and once again, we had to leave her there alone. It was probably harder on her loved ones than it was for her, as she is so independent and strong.
She healed from the surgeries and the oncology team moved forward with a 6-week chemotherapy pill, which they were using to shrink the small remaining amount of Cancer in her Liver. This part of the cancer was on the main arteries and could not be surgically removed. The team was hopeful that based on her response to the chemotherapy previously, the pill would extinguish the remaining Cancer so they could finish off with radiation and end this year long horror story she had been living.
Unfortunately, as time progressed and further testing was done, the cancer spread into her parts of her abdomen, intestine and the tumor in her liver is rapidly growing. After a long talk with the doctor, she was told that she would be on a Chemotherapy regimen for the rest of her life. The chemotherapy will keep the tumors from growing to unmanageable sizes, slow the progression and hopefully keep her quality of life as good as can be. The doctors discussed the plan for moving forward, the new chemo cocktail, and the call was over. Her parents were there with her through the conversation and supported her when she FaceTimed her sisters with the disheartening news. Amanda's sense of humor was in wild form that night, but her family knew she was terrified. They were terrified. Her kids, Alivia (17), Blake (16), and Bailee (11) are her life and you could tell that they were on her mind. She slowly informed those closest to her of the news, but reiterated that she does not want to be treated differently. She wants to continue living her best life, mermaid life and making memories with the people she loves the most.
Amanda is supported and loved so much. She has worked almost everyday throughout all her surgeries, chemotherapy, and complications but she is not going to be able to keep working forever. Although we know she is going to push it as long as she can. After learning that her Cancer was not curable she has been overwhelmed with the many things that she needs to get in order. She never asks for help because she is just too independent. With so much unknown in the days ahead she is worrying more and more about the bills that are piling up and the financial stress she doesn't want to impose on her family.
Any help that you can give to help her reduce the amount of financial stress on her and her children would be greatly appreciated.
Amanda Burton isn't just a Cancer diagnosis. She is a Mother, Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Mersista and friend to a huge support system that wants more than anything to make it all better. She is strong, independent, and hard working. She is adventurous, a hopeless romantic with an infectious smile and beautiful blue eyes that will light up a room as soon as she walks in. She is a Mermaid living her life to the fullest.
She's a single mother who has solely supported herself and her children for years. Her life hasn't been easy, with ups and downs, but through it all she has smiled through it and used the tough lessons to learn and grow while ensuring her children were always smiling too.
In the summer of 2019, Amanda started having pain in her stomach around her liver. She went to the doctor after the pain became too much to bare and she was unable to make it through the day without constant pain. After the doctor reviewed her symptoms, she was sent for bloodwork and CT Scans of her stomach to try to determine why she was having such pain. After what felt like eternity, the CT Scan showed lesions (tumors) on her liver. Amanda was then referred to Johns Hopkins Hospital where a team of doctors got to work trying to figure out what was going on. After more CT Scans, Bloodwork, doctors visits, and a PET Scan our whole family gathered in the Oncologists office to hear the news….Metastatic Colon Cancer.
At 38 years old, the doctors knew she had the strength to fight this Cancer and that is exactly what she did. She started with chemotherapy immediately, with her friends and family taking turns making the long hike from her home in Southern Maryland to Baltimore every other week for her infusions. She continued working and living her life with a smile on her face and love in her heart. After 6 weeks of Chemotherapy, they said that the tumors had shrunk 80% and we ended the year celebrating the great news.
In March, 2020 the medical team thought she was ready to undergo the liver resection surgery that would hopefully remove all or most of the remaining Cancer in her liver. Once again, her family rallied around her filling the surgery waiting room with love and support. Amanda was a trooper and spent a few days in ICU before being moved to a regular room. At this time, COVID-19 restrictions were implemented and we were not allowed to go see her. Amanda spent weeks in the hospital without being able to see her family. It was hard on her and her kids, but she pushed through with a smile on her face. After some complications, she was finally able to come home and start the healing process. Eventually, she would have another surgery to remove the remaining cancer from her colon and spent more time isolated in the hospital without being able to have visitors.
After her surgeries, she had to go back to the hospital a few times due to complications with her drain and dehydration and once again, we had to leave her there alone. It was probably harder on her loved ones than it was for her, as she is so independent and strong.
She healed from the surgeries and the oncology team moved forward with a 6-week chemotherapy pill, which they were using to shrink the small remaining amount of Cancer in her Liver. This part of the cancer was on the main arteries and could not be surgically removed. The team was hopeful that based on her response to the chemotherapy previously, the pill would extinguish the remaining Cancer so they could finish off with radiation and end this year long horror story she had been living.
Unfortunately, as time progressed and further testing was done, the cancer spread into her parts of her abdomen, intestine and the tumor in her liver is rapidly growing. After a long talk with the doctor, she was told that she would be on a Chemotherapy regimen for the rest of her life. The chemotherapy will keep the tumors from growing to unmanageable sizes, slow the progression and hopefully keep her quality of life as good as can be. The doctors discussed the plan for moving forward, the new chemo cocktail, and the call was over. Her parents were there with her through the conversation and supported her when she FaceTimed her sisters with the disheartening news. Amanda's sense of humor was in wild form that night, but her family knew she was terrified. They were terrified. Her kids, Alivia (17), Blake (16), and Bailee (11) are her life and you could tell that they were on her mind. She slowly informed those closest to her of the news, but reiterated that she does not want to be treated differently. She wants to continue living her best life, mermaid life and making memories with the people she loves the most.
Amanda is supported and loved so much. She has worked almost everyday throughout all her surgeries, chemotherapy, and complications but she is not going to be able to keep working forever. Although we know she is going to push it as long as she can. After learning that her Cancer was not curable she has been overwhelmed with the many things that she needs to get in order. She never asks for help because she is just too independent. With so much unknown in the days ahead she is worrying more and more about the bills that are piling up and the financial stress she doesn't want to impose on her family.
Any help that you can give to help her reduce the amount of financial stress on her and her children would be greatly appreciated.
Organizer and beneficiary
Mary Buckler
Organizer
Clements, MD
Amanda Burton
Beneficiary