On June 17th, Lori was admitted to Genesis Hospital in Davenport due to a lesion her physician found on an x-ray of her femur. She was transferred to Iowa City Hospital a few days later for further testing (a bone biopsy of the lesion) as her results were inconclusive at Genesis. She had to be driven from one hospital to the other by ambulance as she wasn’t allowed to bear any weight or move her leg due to the risk of her fracturing it. During the bone biopsy, they were able to insert a rod to help stabilize her leg. In these few short weeks, she has had to have (3) x-rays, (3) MRIs, (2) CT scans, (1) PET scan, a rod inserted, a bone biopsy, a bone marrow biopsy, and several blood tests.

The results concluded that she has a cancer called Multiple Myeloma. There is no cure, but it can be managed for some time and her doctors are optimistic for her outcome. It’ll be monitored for years with more bone marrow biopsies and PET scans if and when it reaches remission. There’s still an additional issue with her bladder that the doctors haven’t addressed yet, and are not sure why she has no control of it. She has started physical therapy, and this week will be starting radiation and chemotherapy. 

To further the financial burden, due to circumstances beyond control and quite unexpectedly, Amy Blevins (her wife) wasn’t able to continue working at the office she had been with for the last 6 years as an independent contractor. Within 2 weeks of finding a new location, quarantine for Covid hit and delayed her start. Since she’s an independent contractor, she wasn’t eligible for any unemployment or any of the Covid relief money since it happened prior to. It was 3 months before she was able to start working again, and even though she is, it’ll take some time for all of her re-credentialing to be completed so insurance can be billed for the work she’s doing now. Unfortunately, there’s no real income for either of them at the moment and they are concerned about their health insurance as Lori is the primary policyholder.  Even if offered COBRA, they would not be able to afford it.

Lori and Amy have a long, hard journey ahead of them. We, their children and other family members, would like to ask for any donations that you can give to help them with relief for medical bills that have already started coming, home bills and expenses, and many trips back and forth to Iowa City for the foreseeable future. 

Your thoughts, prayers, and kind words are also very welcome as we get through this time. We appreciate your generosity and will keep you updated on anything further. Thank you!!!