Friends, Thank you for your prayers, positive thoughts, and generous donations to Larissa. We are devastated to share with you that our beloved daughter unexpectedly passed away in her sleep on February 13, 2025. About two weeks before, after an year of excruciating treatments, she was told that she had beaten Ewing's Sarcoma. She was looking forward to seeing a live radio show (Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me) and to providing therapy to more clients in her professional role as a Doctoral-level Clinical Therapist.

Joseph, Kiki, Asher, Kristina, Brandon, family, friends, colleagues, and clients all brought her great joy and we appreciate you.

Words are not enough to express how much we love and miss her.

Please hug your loved ones today!

Donate blood if you can.

Also see: dignitymemorial.com, Woody Funeral Home, Richmond, Huguenot Chapel

-Deb and Lauris Grundmanis, parents

Hello everyone!

My name is Larissa and I was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma on December 22, 2023. This was a surprise to my care team at the time, as I am 29-years-old, it was found in my salivary gland, and Ewing Sarcoma is not only a rarer type of cancer in general, but it is also much more commonly seen in children and adolescents - not adults. In fact, there are only 200-250 cases of this type of cancer per year.

So what this means is that, once again, I have to go through treatment, which will include chemotherapy at the very least, and may also include radiation and surgery if it comes to it. Unfortunately, this is not only a more aggressive type of cancer than my previous cancer was (Hodgkin's Lymphoma), but the treatment regimen is also expected to be more intense.

Due to this, I am going to work part-time at my current job for as long as I can, but I am anticipating needing to go on unpaid medical leave when my body is more affected by the chemotherapy. I will be able to maintain my health insurance through unpaid medical leave, but that means that I will have to pay for it with whatever funds I have, while not receiving any additional funds. Not only are medical bills expensive to begin with, but maintaining payment to afford health insurance is also expensive. Then, put on top of that the other bills I am responsible for, plus paying for my cats medical bills and food, I am nothing less than concerned.

If you would like the full story of how I got into this predicament, you are welcome to continue reading:

On August 31, 2023, as my boyfriend was driving me to the airport after a visit to him, I noticed a small lump in my throat. I was unable to do anything about it at the time due to various reasons. It didn't bother me too much at the time, because it was relatively small and wasn't affecting my breathing, nor did it hurt. Therefore, I felt I could wait until I got my new job (post-doctoral fellowship) in the coming weeks.

As I waited, the lump grew. And grew. And grew. By the end of September, what had started out as a small lump became roughly 1-inch in size. On September 28, 2023, I went to the Emergency Room. When there, they did a CT scan, which showed a mass in my throat, roughly 1-inch in size. They were unable to determine whether it was malignant or benign at the time, so they referred me to the Virginia Cancer Institute (VCI). It was a mess getting an appointment with VCI, because my records from the ER had to be sent to VCI before they would schedule me, which took longer than I would have liked.

Eventually I got an appointment with VCI. They took bloodwork, which essentially only showed that my platelets were elevated (which was nothing new since they've been elevated since spring of 2022). I spoke with the nurse practitioner and doctor, who both stated they were not concerned about this lump, even though it continued to grow. At times it even had sharp, shooting pains run through it, which resulted in me saying "ow" (which, if you know me, is not something I say unless something is really painful). So VCI referred me for a biopsy of the mass.

The biopsy was scheduled for November 1, 2023. Let's just say...it hurt. A lot. And resulted in a significant bruise. After the results were in, I met with VCI again, who informed me it was a basaloid neoplasm and told me that those are "usually benign." They were still not concerned about it, but felt it, noticed that it had grown again, and said "It needs to come out."

So an appointment with an ENT doctor was made to evaluate the mass, and soon after an appointment to have the mass surgically removed was made. On December 4, 2023, the mass was removed. The surgery went fine and I was able to quickly return to work. On December 22, 2023, I met with VCI to go over the results of the pathology that was done on the removed mass, that had not been done during the biopsy. That was when I heard it: it was Ewing Sarcoma. I had never heard of it, but the look the nurse practitioner had told me that it was not good news.

She explained that this was an unexpected result, as Ewing Sarcoma is a relatively rare form of cancer and most often seen in children in adolescents. Additionally, it is a cancer that affects bones and soft tissues, but more often than not it is found along long bones (e.g., femur), so to find it in a salivary gland was...quite uncommon. Not even my ENT doctor knew what to do or had information on it when I met with him because he had never seen it before. Due to these results, I needed a full body PET scan, which was scheduled for December 29, 2023.

On January 3, 2024, I met with VCI again to go over the results of the PET scan. It was not great news; it had spread to at least one other lymph node. The doctor then told me to prepare for chemotherapy and possible radiation. I was fine until I got to the parking lot, where I started crying into my boyfriend's arms and just said, "I don't want to do this again." We then went and got breakfast, and I headed off to work for the day; I needed a distraction so I wasn't lost catastrophizing in my thoughts. Was I the best therapist that day? Probably not. Was I at least a good enough therapist for what was going on? Absolutely.

Since January 3 I have been able to meet with an oncologist at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), who is the only oncologist in the state of Virginia who specializes in Sarcoma in adults. We went over the probable treatment plan, which involves a variation of outpatient and inpatient treatment. When inpatient is required, it will be 5 days straight of chemotherapy, at which time I may or may not be able to work remotely, depending on logistical factors. With the treatment plan provided to me on paper, I would receive chemotherapy every 2 weeks; this regimen is usually reserved for those who are 18 and under due to their bodies being able to tolerate the regimen better than an adults body. Therefore, the other regimen is receiving chemotherapy every 3 weeks, switching between inpatient and outpatient treatment, which is likely what I will be doing.

Doing the math (which arguably, I am not great at and may be off by a little bit), it seems that I will be going through chemotherapy for just under a year, meaning most of 2024. It's an aggressive form of cancer, which means the chemotherapy regimen will also be aggressive.

Last time when I had cancer, I was 17-years-old, and responded well to treatment. However, I remember the damage inflicted on my body throughout those months of chemotherapy. I remember not being able to eat food because of the shooting pains running through my intestines and stomach whenever I tried to consume anything - even applesauce. I remember losing consciousness at times (potentially due to anemia), where I would get incredibly dizzy, my vision would start to go black, I would get an intense and loud ringing in my ears, my muscles would suddenly be unable to hold my body up, I would get incredibly nauseous, and my stomach would cramp up to the point that the cramps were worse than period cramps. I remember receiving my outpatient shot of chemotherapy, but then needing to sit down on the elevator because the previous symptoms would occur, and then I would be admitted again as an inpatient. I remember being frustrated that I had to put off going to college for a semester (I was diagnosed a month after graduating high school). I remember trying to get off of certain medications so I could drive again, and instead going into withdrawal. I remember when my port moved, but the doctors didn't realize it so they kept trying to insert an IV into it, which just resulted in immense chest pain. I remember watching hours and hours of TLC and Food Network, just because there was nothing else to do. I remember the moment I started to lose my hair due to chemotherapy; I was brushing my hair in the hospital bathroom and when I pulled the brush away, there was my hair. I remember how many complications existed, and needless to say, I am scared.

I am scared at what this more aggressive treatment regimen will do to me. I am scared at the possibility (and probability) of losing my independence once again. I am scared of all the complications that will arise. I am scared of the financial burden this will cause not only for me, but for those who support me financially as well. I am scared when I won't be able to work. I am scared for my cats and how me going inpatient for 5 days, unable to see them, will affect not only them, but me as well. I am scared that this has continued to spread. I am scared of the emotional toll this will take not only on me, but on those around me.

Yes, I have supports around me, which I am unable to express how much gratitude I have toward them. But once I have to go on unpaid medical leave, I worry about how I will be able to afford health insurance, while going through chemotherapy, while also affording all of my other bills.

One of my cats (Kiki) has several medical problems that need to be addressed, and so her bills are expensive (even though yes, I do have pet insurance). Plus there's the need for cat litter and cat food (and no, I refuse to get rid of my cats - that is beyond out of the picture). I have several other medical problems that need to be monitored, too, which means more copays and other expenses related to medical stuff (appointment costs, procedure costs, medication costs). I also need to afford food, pay the bills I am responsible for, and make sure I have gas in my car and money on my EZ pass. I will likely have to start paying back my student loans soon, too. I need to do all of this, all while going through intense chemotherapy, and I truly don't know how I'm going to manage it.

So I'm asking for your help and support. I hate asking others for help due to a need for hyper-independence (which I'm working on), and so this is only being done out of fear for the future, and to help make this year a little more tolerable. If you can, please give what you can. If you are unable to give anything, that's okay; just wishing me the best is good enough as well.

Thank you for reading this, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, and your year :)

And if you would rather donate an item over money (if you want to donate at all), here is the link to my registry:

https://wegotthis.org/registries/larissa-goes-through-chemo