Love & Support for Lisa Mapula

This is Lisa. Lisa is 36 years young, has 3 beautiful children (Joseph – 19, Jacob, 10 and Bella 6) and a loving husband, Cesar. They run their own small gutter installation business in Richland Hills in Fort Worth, TX.

An unthinkable tragedy struck on Friday, July 27, when after many days of excruciating headaches, Lisa finally went to the ER and had a CT scan. It was clear there was something very wrong so they transported her by ambulance to Harris Methodist hospital in Fort worth, admitted her to ICU and followed up with an MRI. It was determined that the headaches were caused by a very large tumor mass, but they didn't know what type.

The decision was made to do brain surgery first thing on Monday, July 30 to remove as much tumor as possible to relieve the pressure and to provide enough tissue for a biopsy.

By Wed, August 1, it was determined that Lisa has stage 4 Glioblastoma, with sarcomatous features. In sum, this cancer has a very poor prognosis with survival rates between 12-18 months following diagnosis. 

This is heart breaking and life changing on so many levels...

Lisa and her family's health  insurance just lapsed, so all medical expenses at Harris Methodist must be paid 100% out of pocket. Lisa's care will be transitioned to JPS County hospital, assuming their application is approved, and they will cover 80% of the cost of treatments, but the family will have to cover the other 20%. One radiation treatment could cost $50,000...so when you consider the multiple rounds of chemo and radiation Lisa will need to sustain her life as long as possible, the $s become astronomical.

The hospital is conducting a molecular test to see if there are any clinical trials available that could provide a better prognosis for Lisa...we are anxiously awaiting those results.

Lisa is at home and recovering from her 2nd brain surgery to remove the remainder of the tumor and they anticipate starting chemo and radiation late August as the youngest kids return to school.

We are obviously devastated by this turn of events but Lisa is so strong and so positive. Please consider wrapping your loving arms and prayers around this family as they navigate these uncertain waters.

Anything you can give will directly help Lisa and her family cover the astronomical cost of these life sustaining treatments.