Lisa’s Cancer Fight!

The Backstory 
My beautiful best friend Lisa Morales, a 25 year old nursing student, was going to school full-time and enjoying her life in Costa Mesa, CA when she suddenly started collapsing and experiencing severe pain in her right leg. After a month of checkups, MRI's, and a number of other tests we have discovered that the nerve pain is being caused by a large, lemon sized tumor, growing out of her spine and into a large muscle located in between her hip and lower back. Due to the location and the size of the tumor Lisa is no longer able to use her right leg and has to get around by crutches or wheelchair. To further complicate things this area is also surrounded by a number of major organs which makes surgery and treatment very difficult. This tumor, otherwise known as an Ewing's Sarcoma, is an extremely rare and aggressive form of bone cancer with only about 250 cases in the US each year. 

The Plan
Because of the aggressive nature of this cancer Lisa will be starting a high-dose inpatient and outpatient cycle of chemotherapy for at least 6 months, including a number of  week long hospital stays. This will then be followed up by surgery and radiation. Assuming the chemo, surgery and radiation are successful a second cycle of chemotherapy will begin and continue for the following 6 months causing Lisa to have to endure a 1 year long battle for her life, if not longer. Due to the intensity of the chemotherapy treatment, there is a high risk for infertility which was extremely painful for Lisa to hear. So Lisa would like to freeze her eggs before starting treatment in order to increase her likelihood of having children of her own some day, but this needs to be done as soon as possible, for treatment will be starting in a matter of weeks.

Medical/School Expenses
As you can imagine, the medical expenses for this kind of plan Is a huge financial burden. Fertility treatment alone cost about $20,000-40,000. The whole process is much more than her and her family can afford. Lisa has also already had to take out $65,000 in student loans and she's only half way through nursing school. The student loan payments can only be deferred for 6 months due to these extenuating circumstances. After the 6 months are up Lisa is required to start making payments, but due to her immobility and the aggressive treatment plan, she will not be able to work to pay for her student loans nor will she be able to go back to school for at least 1 year. On top of all that, there is no way to currently know what the medical bills will add up to at the end of all the chemo, radiation, and surgery. This will cause a major financial burden that neither she nor her family can afford. 

How you can help
Lisa is a beautiful and determined person with a heart of gold that has supported herself for most of her adult life. Her charm and wit makes her easy to fall in love with and her strength and determination have never ceased to amaze me. Even in the face of such adversity she holds her head up high and remains strong through all of this. Lisa has never been one to ask for a free handout but this is a situation that she simply can't make it through on her own. That's why I'm asking you to help out as much as you possibly can so that she can continue to be the beautiful and determined person that she has always been.  

I would like to use this GoFundMe platform to reach out to her family, friends, and community and ask in your help to spread the word and support Lisa during this time. Let’s come together to relieve her of these financial burdens so she can solely focus on fighting this cancer. 

You can support Lisa by donating and/or sharing this GoFundMe page. To help get the word out you can share on your Facebook and Instagram!

Thank you so much in advance for any and all support! 

With gratitude,

Lauren Plummer