Help Lisa Fight Brain Cancer
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My mom, Lisa Bender, has always loved the holiday season. Recently, the holidays have been slightly bittersweet, as she has lost her father, husband and son all in the last 7 years. However, the loss has made us all realize how precious time with loved ones truly is.
Early Christmas morning, on her way over to my house to open stockings with her grandkids, my mom hit her head on her open car door while loading gifts into her car. She came over and seemed really off to us. She attributed it to being tired, stress from work, and other normal life stuff going on. But, at one point during the day the left side of her face started to droop and her speech became slurred. This was a HUGE red flag for me.
A few days later she decided to go see her primary care physician because she had some symptoms that weren’t subsiding. I found out that she hadn’t been able to tie her shoes, had been dropping things, and the slurred speech had not gone away. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse each day.
She was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. She was sent home with no tests or scans scheduled, told to rest her brain and stay off of her phone, and to contact her doctor if symptoms hadn’t improved by Friday. This was Tuesday, December 29th.
On Thursday, December 31st, she decided to call her primary care physician. After a brief conversation, her doctor told her to go to the ER for a cat scan. The scan showed a 3cm brain mass and she was admitted to the Temecula Valley Hospital at this time. We decided that a transfer to UCSD was our best option.
For now, this is what we know: my mom was diagnosed with grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme, which is a very fast growing, aggressive form of brain cancer. She had surgery to resect what turned out to be a 4cm tumor and surgery was successful.
While this form of cancer is not curable, it is treatable. We have come to the conclusion that such a diagnosis requires a second, which may come at a huge cost. This is not something we are willing to accept as the final diagnosis, having only had one institution review her case. We have a lot of big decisions to make in upcoming weeks, including pursuing a very promising alternative form of therapy in Houston, Texas that we are excited about. We have to make decisions on therapy, course of treatment, all while considering quality of life.
If you know my mom, you know she is one tough lady. She has had more than her fair share of hardships and heart break. Having this happen to her seems wildly unfair. Despite it all, she has maintained a positive attitude and has lots of fight left in her. A lot of people have reached out wanting to help. I am creating a GoFundMe so that, hopefully, my mom can have the resources to do whatever it takes to fight this beast.
Early Christmas morning, on her way over to my house to open stockings with her grandkids, my mom hit her head on her open car door while loading gifts into her car. She came over and seemed really off to us. She attributed it to being tired, stress from work, and other normal life stuff going on. But, at one point during the day the left side of her face started to droop and her speech became slurred. This was a HUGE red flag for me.
A few days later she decided to go see her primary care physician because she had some symptoms that weren’t subsiding. I found out that she hadn’t been able to tie her shoes, had been dropping things, and the slurred speech had not gone away. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse each day.
She was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. She was sent home with no tests or scans scheduled, told to rest her brain and stay off of her phone, and to contact her doctor if symptoms hadn’t improved by Friday. This was Tuesday, December 29th.
On Thursday, December 31st, she decided to call her primary care physician. After a brief conversation, her doctor told her to go to the ER for a cat scan. The scan showed a 3cm brain mass and she was admitted to the Temecula Valley Hospital at this time. We decided that a transfer to UCSD was our best option.
For now, this is what we know: my mom was diagnosed with grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme, which is a very fast growing, aggressive form of brain cancer. She had surgery to resect what turned out to be a 4cm tumor and surgery was successful.
While this form of cancer is not curable, it is treatable. We have come to the conclusion that such a diagnosis requires a second, which may come at a huge cost. This is not something we are willing to accept as the final diagnosis, having only had one institution review her case. We have a lot of big decisions to make in upcoming weeks, including pursuing a very promising alternative form of therapy in Houston, Texas that we are excited about. We have to make decisions on therapy, course of treatment, all while considering quality of life.
If you know my mom, you know she is one tough lady. She has had more than her fair share of hardships and heart break. Having this happen to her seems wildly unfair. Despite it all, she has maintained a positive attitude and has lots of fight left in her. A lot of people have reached out wanting to help. I am creating a GoFundMe so that, hopefully, my mom can have the resources to do whatever it takes to fight this beast.
Organizer and beneficiary
Rachel Bender
Organizer
Fallbrook, CA
Lisa Bender
Beneficiary