My name is Alin and this is the story of my best friend, the love of my life, and the best partner I could ever ask for.  Carla is the best mother for her two children , Kylie and Carter, a very motivated, passionate and loving person.  Since the day we met, she has accepted my 3 boys as her own. Carla has been a nurse for 20 years at the University of Alberta Hospital caring for patients on Surgical units, Neurosurgery, and for the majority of her career on the Transplant Unit.  Always being the caregiver, Carla was not ready for the roles to be reversed and  become a patient herself.

This all started in October 2017 when Carla got diagnosed with Triple Negative, Grade 3, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the Left Breast.  It was shocking, devastating news for such a young lady, of 41 yrs , to receive.  And this only 5 months after her father was diagnosed with brain cancer.  Too much for one family to have to deal with!  But Carla is a very strong, determined woman and knew that whatever treatment she needed to do, she would.... and would beat this beast we call cancer.  

Carla began her cancer fight in November with her 1st of 6, IV chemotherapy treatments.  She was warned that the side effects could be many, but that often women will only have a few.  Well Carla had them all.  First she ended up with febrile neutropenia, putting her in hospital for a few days to treat.  Her white blood cells dropped so low that she couldn't fight off any infection and ended up with a fever of 40C.  While in hospital, being treated with antibiotics and immune-boosting injections, her hair began to fall out in clumps.  This is difficult for any woman to go through.  But once she got discharged from the hospital, Carla knew she couldn't continue to watch this happen.  So she called a good friend to come over and just shave her hair all off.  Many tears were shed and it took a lot of adjustment for Carla to get used to her new GI Jane look, but she accepted it like a real trooper.  She knew that it was all part of the process in fighting the beast!  We all continued to love and adore the beautiful woman she is inside and out. 


Eighteen weeks of nausea, bone and muscle pain, taste and appetite changes, more hair loss to her eyelashes, eyebrows, and below, watery eyes, dry mouth, skin rashes and itching to her hands and feet, darkening of her nails, and relentless fatigue...... these were the symptoms that were mentioned to Carla as possibilities.... and she ended up having them all!  But she pushed through those Chemotherapy treatments because they were working.  Even after the very first IV dose, the oncologist could feel a significant reduction in the size of the lump in her breast and lymph node!!  Everyone was so impressed at how well she was responding to the chemotherapy.  So despite feeling horrible, day in and day out, Carla stuck it out and finished the 6 IV treatments (one dose every 3 weeks). 

When the Chemotherapy was complete, an Ultrasound and Mammogram were done to see how effective it was.  There was no trace of any tumours!!  The oncologists were ecstatic with the results, as were we.  The surgeon would only have to do a minor lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy to test the tissue where the lumps used to be, to send off to pathology.  Ends up that the chemotherapy scarred the lymph nodes so much that surgeon ended up having to take out 14 of them during surgery.  But the most fantastic news was that none of the breast or lymph node tissue that was removed had any traces of cancer in it!!!  Carla had beat the beast!!!  Or so she thought.......

She completed the treatment plan with 5 weeks of radiation, despite wondering why it was necessary, seeing as how there were no cancer cells left.  "Wouldn't you regret not doing the radiation if the cancer came back?" - this is what we were told when questioning the necessity of radiation.  So Carla did what the experts advised her to do.  She did not every want this beast to raise its ugly face ever again!  More fatigue to battle with the radiation.  Then such bad skin burning and peeling to the left breast and under arm, that Carla had to use very special creams and dressings to heal it.  Like a burn victim.  And of course risk for infection was still very high.  But again, she powered through, a real trooper and completed the last part of her cancer treatment on June 21st!  She rang that Bell of Hope so hard, she nearly shook it off the wall!!  Me and her kids were there for that last treatment and went to celebrate all that she had endured and battled over the past 8 months.  We were all so proud of her!


Carla was excited, yet very nervous, to return to work at the end of August 2018, after having been off for nearly 9 months.  How would she manage the workload, organize her time, physically get through the fatigue, and how would her peers and patients view her upon her return?  It was a struggle for her in the beginning, but Carla persevered.  She was only back for 2 months when she began to struggle more.  Feeling foggy in the head, more scattered, and new headaches.  She figured it was just all stress-related, until the headaches got so bad that she ended up staying in bed all day and vomiting 10-12 times per day.  I took her into our local ER, only to be told that it was just migraines.  They treated her with strong IV pain killers and nausea medication and sent her home.  She felt slightly better for a few days, enough to get her through the Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course that she had been studying for.....she passed!!  And then got sicker again.  The headaches and nausea and vomiting returned, and Carla began limping with her left leg and forgetting that her left arm existed.  I took her in to the U of A Hospital ER this time.  The doctors there reviewed her history and immediately did a CT scan of her brain.  The results were definitely a shock to us...... a brain tumour!!  How, after being clear of any breast cancer, could it have gone to her brain?  Devastation set in.

Carla ended up being admitted to the hospital November 7th and remained there for a week to reduce the brain swelling, before undergoing brain surgery (a craniotomy) to remove the tumour..... and her Dad had just undergone his second craniotomy on November 6th!! So much for our family to deal with.... again.  Four days later, Carla was discharged home to recover.  Headaches lessened slowly, day by day.   


Gamma Knife Radiation was the next step. It is a very localized radiation that targets the tumour bed, without damaging any other brain tissue. There is no chemotherapy that is available in Canada to attack cancer cells that have metastasized from the breast to the brain, so radiation was the only option, we were told. But with the high success rate of the Gamma Knife, Carla was definitely on board with it.  Never going to give up, was her motto.  So on December 3rd, she had the Gamma Knife radiation.  40minutes, having her head bolted down to immobilize it.....a very anxiety-inducing treatment, but otherwise painless.  This first treatment was a success, which was shown on her follow up CT a few weeks later.  We could celebrate Christmas this year with some positive news!


As there is no chemotherapy that crosses the blood-brain barrier for this type of cancer, Carla began her research into other options available to slow down and beat this cancer.  She had already been following a healthy diet, with absolutely no sugar, but took things a step further, changing to a vegan, gluten free diet.  Eating this way boosts the immune system and nourishes all the cells in our bodies.  Also, trying to keep her body alkaline was another thing that research has shown to help.  So she jumped on board with these changes and continued to look for more alternatives. 

Carla came across an alternative therapy/naturopathic clinic in Edmonton that had rave reviews for cancer patients.  It was a costly treatment of 3 IV infusions per week, oral supplements, injections, and continuing on with the diet as well.    None of these treatments are covered by our healthcare system, so Carla began to go more into debt, trying to stay alive.  Her long term disability didn't even cover her basic monthly bills.  But she knew she couldn't just sit down and wait for the next tumor to appear.  She continued these alternative treatments for about 5 weeks and her headaches started to come back at the end of February 2019.

Carla had a 3 month, post craniotomy, follow up scan on March 4th....... and a new brain tumor had appeared.  Really?  How could this be happening again so quickly?  Doing everything she could to stay healthy and follow the doctors recommendations, and this beast still returned. This time, the tumor appeared to originate in the lining of her brain.   So Carla was booked in for her second brain surgery on March 19th.  The surgery went as well as could be expected, and Carla went home 3 days later. 


April 10th was the first of three, 40minute Gamma Knife treatments.  This was because the MRI that was done pre-gamma, showed a small half-cherry tomato sized growth showing up around the tumor bed.  So they would "zap" that as well.  This news really took the wind out of Carla's sails this time.  Everything that she'd endured and tried, and it seemed that this ferocious beast kept winning.

Again, home to recover after the latest surgery and radiation.  But the headaches wouldn't go away this time, despite the medications that were prescribed for the swelling and pain.   Additionally, Carla's vision began to go blurry and see double, have some numbness in her right hand and foot, some new neck and back pain, and she was having difficulty chewing, swallowing and speaking.  Seemed like the left half of her tongue was numb and she would bite it often.  The Dr at the Gamma Knife clinic brought her in for a CT on May 9th, which didn't show any tumor or bleeding in the brain.  So this was encouraging news, we thought.  But it didn't explain any of Carla's symptoms.  The clinic sent her home with a new medication to try over the weekend, which was to prevent possible seizures, but also made her extremely tired.  Carla's driving days were now over, until this hopefully would be resolved.

Unfortunately, the symptoms did not get better.  So Carla was brought back in for a more in depth MRI of her brain and spine on May 15th.  The results were definitely worse than we could have imagined.  The cancer had metastasized into the meningeal lining of the brain, a small spot in the cerebellum, the lining of the spinal cord and into the fluid surrounding it all.  And a couple of new lesions on her spine.  We were told that they couldn't do any more Gamma Knife radiation for this type of cancer and would refer me back to my oncologist at the Cross Cancer Institute to talk about whether or not there were any other potential options.  At the Cross, we were told that this was very bad news and that the only option they could offer for Carla would be 5-10 sessions of whole brain radiation and 5 to the spine.  But that would be all that they could do for her.  And that this would just be buying her a bit of time.

This is where my plea to you all comes in.  After all of this, we have been in contact with a clinic in Mexico, that has fantastic reviews of people that have gone there with late/advanced stages of cancer.  Doctors there explained the treatment options available to us and how they are different from other countries.  We are hopeful that they will be able to help Carla.  The problem that we have is the cost of these treatments and the time spent away from home and away from her kids and family.  Trying to maintain a household here in Sherwood Park on an already failing budget, and trying to find the funds to be able to keep fighting and stay alive, is a struggle beyond comprehension. The initial treatment is approximately $25,000-$30,000, depending on what needs to be done and how long Carla will have to stay.  She could be there anywhere from 3-6 weeks for the initial treatment.  Then there will be follow up appointments; the first being only a couple of weeks after her initial stay-again being a costly bill.  The number of follow up appointments is based on Carla's progress.  So travel back and forth to Mexico, accommodations, meals, and ultimately the intense treatments, would all be impossible for us to do without the help of others.

I pray that your generosity will help Carla to continue to fight and beat this beast that she has been battling for far too long.  We are not ready to say goodbye to her yet.  Please help if you can.

We would like to thank you in advance for your generosity, kind hearts, and willingness to help.  I will keep you posted of Carla's ongoing battle and treatment.

Thank you and God Bless,
Alin