Marilyn's Swan Song

Family and Friends,

As we all know, the people we work with daily can seem more like family than friends, and our sweet bookkeeper Rosalia has become just that... Family.

Over the last year, Thomas and I have witnessed through Rosalia, her daughter-in-law, Marilyn's, heartbreaking battle with Glioblastoma cancer and the loss of her unborn baby due to her cancer treatment. Recently Marilyn and her husband Sergio (Rosalia's son) received news from MD Anderson that Marilyn has three months to live.

Since I heard this devastating news from Rosalia, it has been heavy on my heart to help somehow. Many of us are blessed not knowing the pain and heartache of a loved one who suffers from an illness.

I am starting this GoFundMe to raise money to help Marilyn and Sergio live these last few months without financial worries and enjoy each other's time together.

Here is Marilyn's story:

Marilyn and Sergio met in high school while working at Springcreek Barbeque. They started dating in 2009 and got married in 2014. Shortly before they married, Sergio joined the Air Force, and they were stationed in Germany that same year. While in Germany, they were able to travel all over the world and made many lifelong friends. Marilyn even met her goal of reaching 30 countries before her 30th birthday.

Sergio & Marilyn with their sweet baby Patches

After being stationed in Germany for nearly 7 years, in early 2021 Marilyn and Sergio were excitedly awaiting the arrival of their first child. At their 16-week appointment, they were told there was something wrong with their baby's development and that he would not make it to term. She and Sergio were referred to fetal care doctors stateside in hopes they could diagnose and treat him.

Marilyn and her adorable baby bump before she knew anything was wrong

Not long before they flew to Austin in August, Marilyn had begun having what she called "episodes." During these episodes, her heart would race, her arm or foot would go numb, and she would get very nauseous and vomit. These episodes were also becoming more frequent - starting randomly, but soon became weekly, then every few days, and on to multiple times a day.

The mass that was removed from Marilyn's brain

Marilyn's episodes were assumed to be pregnancy related until one day, they were constant, and Marilyn couldn't keep food down. The next day their fetal care doctor directed them to go to the hospital and told them not to leave until she'd had an MRI.

The MRI showed a mass in Marilyn's brain; the episodes Marilyn had were seizures.

Sergio helping Marilyn walk after her brain tumor removal surgery

The following week, she had brain surgery to safely remove as much of the mass as possible. They'd then test it to confirm what it was. The surgery was successful, but their baby could not survive it. His heart stopped beating during the surgery. A week after brain surgery, Marilyn and Sergio met their rainbow baby, Lorenzo Atlas Rosa. They believe Lorenzo stayed here with them, months longer than doctors predicted, to make sure Marilyn was able to get diagnosed and treated for her illness.

Sergio & Marilyn with their rainbow baby

Rosalia with her rainbow grandson

The following week, they received results that confirmed the mass was cancer, precisely an aggressive form of brain cancer called Glioblastoma. Marilyn's had progressed to containing grades 2, 3, and 4. Grade 4, the fastest growing grade, had largely been removed, but the mass had grown out from there into places of her brain that made them unsafe to remove surgically.

In November, she began chemotherapy and radiation treatment 5 days a week for 6 weeks, based back in Dallas to be closer to family. Her targeted radiation treatment involved casting her face to create a brace that would hold her head in place.

Sergio, Marilyn & Rosalia

Marilyn's Dad, Her & Sergio

During this time, she also had her neuro-oncologist in Austin apply to see if she qualified for a trial at MD Anderson. MD Anderson is one of the best cancer centers in the United States. However, they told her that she wasn't eligible because the treatment she was on had been helping her thus far. So Marilyn asked the neuro-oncologist at MD Anderson to be her primary neuro-oncologist in case the cancer grew back and she became eligible.

After the initial 6 weeks of chemo and radiation, she began a chemo regimen of 5 days on and 23 days off for a year. Things had been going well, and cancer slightly shrank by June of 2022.

However, Marilyn began behaving strangely on a flight to Boston in July. She was perplexed, very fidgety, and couldn't walk. An ambulance was called to the airport, and they rushed Marilyn to the hospital, where they first confirmed it wasn't a stroke or seizures. However, she continued to get worse, even sedated, and was still fidgeting, kicking, and unable to speak clearly. When she did, it often didn't make sense.

Marilyn after her shunt surgery

Doctors recommended a lumbar puncture to test to see if there was an infection in her brain. However, they had to intubate her because it wasn't safe to do the procedure when she couldn't remain still. The lumbar puncture revealed an extreme amount of pressure in her spinal fluid. Once that pressure was relieved, the restless, jerky movements stopped. After a few days, she was awake and stable, but her short-term memory didn't return to normal.

The lumbar puncture alleviated the symptoms but didn't help doctors understand the cause. Regardless, doctors felt she was well enough to be discharged, and we wanted to get her home.

Marilyn's sister holding her hand while in the hospital

Once back in Texas, she had an appointment with her neuro-oncologist at MD Anderson. They'd talked to the doctors that treated her in Boston, and she'd had another MRI shortly before the appointment. This MRI revealed that Marilyn had Leptomeningeal Disease. The cancer cells had spread into the spinal fluid surrounding her brain and spine. These cells also made it harder for her body to reabsorb her spinal fluid as it usually would. Since it couldn't reabsorb, the pressure built up, causing all her symptoms. They recommended she have surgery to place a shunt in her skull and thread it to release excess spinal fluid into her stomach. She had surgery later that week, and it went well.

Initially, her doctors had said she would need to change the chemo treatment plan and start a broader form of radiation since the cancer cells were no longer contained in one place in her brain.

However, after speaking with the radiation team she'd seen at the end of 2021, they concluded that it would not be safe to treat her with radiation again so soon. There isn't much else they can offer for treatment now, and said she might only have a few months left with us.

Marilyn and Sergio want to make the most of this time. They're hoping to take a few long road trips and see some of the most beautiful places in the world, like the Grand Canyon. Since she can't safely fly, they want to travel in an RV so she can rest comfortably while on the road. Anything donated will go toward making this dream a reality.