Make Judy Well
Donation protected
Check out https://howsjudy.wordpress.com/ for current info and status updates.
After several weeks of illness and her skin turning a lovely shade of amber, it was determined by her medical team (after several false starts) that Judy is very very ill.
Judy Garvey needs your help funding her recovery. She and her husband, Brian, quite frankly do not have the financial means to support her recovery which will include a lot of medical devices and aftercare assistance that insurance won't cover. On top of all these medical woes, Brian has been dealing with losing his warehouse (it's scheduled for demolition in November) and he has been working 24/7 to clear a lifetime of accumulation.
If you love Judy, as I do, and want to help, please donate whatever you feel. Anything you can contribute will help allow one shining star of a human traverse this unfortunate situation in just a little more comfort knowing some of her basic needs will be met.
If you're interested in more detailed information, please see below.
What we know:
• She has a tumor on her bile duct.
• The stents they inserted into said duct as a temporary measure (essentially so that she wouldn't die) are working nicely thank-you-very-much, and her amber complexion has turned a much more pinkish hue (not to mention, she feels much better).
• The tumor needs to be removed or it will kill her.
• The tumor excision requires MAJOR surgery that can last between 4 and 9 hours with a recovery period of 6+ weeks.
• Judy has only recently embarked on her career as a professional fine artist at great financial risk—she and Brian are pretty much freakin' broke.
What we don't know at this point:
• Exactly when she will start treatment—the sooner the better, but y'know, red tape, insurance, etc.
• Where she'll be receiving treatment—it turns out there is a world expert in this surgery out of UCSF. Now we need to see if her insurance will cover her being treated there.
• If this is cancer. We will not know until they remove the tumor. (Only 10% of these tumors are not cancer, but the pathology on the cells they have biopsied says that it is not. —Fingers crossed!).
• How many procedures will be required and subsequent treatments. There is a chance that they will do laparoscopic exploratory surgery to determine the state of the tumor 1st.
• Based on previous examinations, it looks as if the tumor may be wrapped around the artery supplying blood to the bile duct. If they find that to be the case, she may require chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before they can excise it, thus prolonging the process and her recovery time significantly.
You can learn more and keep up with the ups and downs of this new journey here [link].
Warmest Regards,
Alexis
After several weeks of illness and her skin turning a lovely shade of amber, it was determined by her medical team (after several false starts) that Judy is very very ill.
Judy Garvey needs your help funding her recovery. She and her husband, Brian, quite frankly do not have the financial means to support her recovery which will include a lot of medical devices and aftercare assistance that insurance won't cover. On top of all these medical woes, Brian has been dealing with losing his warehouse (it's scheduled for demolition in November) and he has been working 24/7 to clear a lifetime of accumulation.
If you love Judy, as I do, and want to help, please donate whatever you feel. Anything you can contribute will help allow one shining star of a human traverse this unfortunate situation in just a little more comfort knowing some of her basic needs will be met.
If you're interested in more detailed information, please see below.
What we know:
• She has a tumor on her bile duct.
• The stents they inserted into said duct as a temporary measure (essentially so that she wouldn't die) are working nicely thank-you-very-much, and her amber complexion has turned a much more pinkish hue (not to mention, she feels much better).
• The tumor needs to be removed or it will kill her.
• The tumor excision requires MAJOR surgery that can last between 4 and 9 hours with a recovery period of 6+ weeks.
• Judy has only recently embarked on her career as a professional fine artist at great financial risk—she and Brian are pretty much freakin' broke.
What we don't know at this point:
• Exactly when she will start treatment—the sooner the better, but y'know, red tape, insurance, etc.
• Where she'll be receiving treatment—it turns out there is a world expert in this surgery out of UCSF. Now we need to see if her insurance will cover her being treated there.
• If this is cancer. We will not know until they remove the tumor. (Only 10% of these tumors are not cancer, but the pathology on the cells they have biopsied says that it is not. —Fingers crossed!).
• How many procedures will be required and subsequent treatments. There is a chance that they will do laparoscopic exploratory surgery to determine the state of the tumor 1st.
• Based on previous examinations, it looks as if the tumor may be wrapped around the artery supplying blood to the bile duct. If they find that to be the case, she may require chemotherapy to shrink the tumor before they can excise it, thus prolonging the process and her recovery time significantly.
You can learn more and keep up with the ups and downs of this new journey here [link].
Warmest Regards,
Alexis
Organizer and beneficiary
Alexis Rachel
Organizer
Berkeley, CA
Judith M. Garvey
Beneficiary
