At the end of August, I started feeling really sick while visiting my parents. Honestly, I thought it was just my typical anxiety and OCD acting up, so I waited a few days before finally asking my dad to take me to the hospital. I figured it was probably a virus, but after a CT scan, the doctors found a tumor on my appendix and said I needed emergency surgery right away. My husband dropped everything and flew in to be with me. After surgery, we got the news: the tumor was cancerous and had reached the base of my colon. I was totally floored—I'm 32, always been healthy, and never thought I'd be dealing with something like this. Three weeks later, I had to go back for another surgery to remove a third of my colon. Waking up in the ICU after blood transfusions and fighting off a nasty infection was honestly wild. This whole experience has been the toughest thing I've ever faced, and trust me, I've faced some weird stuff thanks to my anxiety. 
 
 
 Before all this, I was focused on work, staying active, and just living life. Now, my days are filled with recovery, hospital visits, and waiting for more pathology results. The cancer I have is extremely rare, and my recovery is expected to take at least ten weeks, maybe more. Not exactly the adventure I had planned, but here we are. 
 
 
 As many of my friends and family know, I also live with health anxiety and OCD, which makes situations like this even more overwhelming. It’s not always easy to trust your instincts when your mind is already running wild with worry, and sometimes it feels like you’re fighting your own brain just to make a decision. But here’s the thing: it’s totally okay to ask for help. It’s not weak to go to the doctor or to seek medical treatment when you don’t feel well. If something feels off, listen to your body and don’t be embarrassed to get checked out. I’m so grateful I finally did, because waiting any longer could have made things much worse. If you’re struggling with anxiety or OCD, you’re not alone—there’s nothing wrong with reaching out for support, and it can make all the difference. 
 
 
 I’m lucky to have my amazing husband, friends, family, and the oncology team at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia cheering me on. Any funds raised will go toward my medical bills and treatment. 
 
 
 If there are extra funds after my recovery, I’ll be donating them to NAMI Philadelphia. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Philadelphia is a nonprofit that helps people and families dealing with mental health—advocacy, education, and community support. Their work means a lot to me, and I want to help others get the support they need.

Emily DeSanto

Anonymous

Phil Wingate

Lillian Anderson

Lilly Rodriguez

Hayley Collinson

Rachael Butkiewicz

Christian Santarelli

Bevin Freeman

Earl Stepp

Tanner Larson

Brittany Shillington

Paige Weinman

Andrew Zielinski

Carli Ostroff

Breezy Freeman

Maureen’s Rare Cancer Recovery

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Maureen’s Rare Cancer Recovery

Still $3,010 to go. Help us build momentum.