Elizabeth's Medical Bills Donations
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Hello Everyone
This is Alex Mercado and I am starting this fundraiser for the strongest and bravest person I know, my wife Elizabeth (Liz). About 4 years ago, Liz started having excruciating pains in her stomach. During a visit to her doctor, the doctor immediately wanted Liz to go to an emergency room because something didn't feel right in what she felt in her stomach that day. It turns out, that doctor probably saved Liz's life. Liz was admitted to the hospital that same day although no one knew what was wrong or causing the severe pain she was in. For a week, the doctor's at Metropolitan Hospital, tried to do a colonoscopy. Liz was so swollen in her anal cavity that after numerous attempts, the doctor's were unable to do the colonoscopy. After a week, they were finally able to do the colonoscopy and that's where they discovered the source of what was going on. Liz had a huge mass in her intestine/colon that was blocking her digestive system. That mass turned out to be colon cancer which was diagnosed as stage 4 colon cancer. Although we were grateful that the doctor's finally found out what was wrong, we all wanted Liz transferred to another hospital better equipped with dealing with what we knew was going to be a long battle. Thanks to a childhood family friend of Liz, whom she and I will always be indebted to, Dr Adam Aponte, Adam reached out to his colleagues in Mount Sinai Hospital and she was immediately transferred there. Adam made sure Liz was seen by the best oncologist, best gastroenterologist and best surgeon at Mount Sinai. Within a week, Liz had the first of her many surgeries, with this one being extensive. The surgeon had to remove the cancerous part of the colon and reattach the colon back together. He also removed one of her ovaries, which looked very "suspicious" to the surgeon and possibly was cancerous as well. They also implanted a medi-port in her chest that is connected to a main artery in her neck. This medi-port would be how Liz would be administered the chemo that was to follow shortly after her surgery. After a year of chemo following her initial surgery, all tests showed the chemo had worked and the cancer had not spread and was gone from her body. At that point Liz had surgery to have her medi-port removed. There were routine follow up visits to the oncologist to monitor her over the next several months and all looked fine until her blood tests started to show her tumor marker counts were beginning to rise again. After a full body xray scan was done, the test showed that though the cancer had not returned to her colon, it had returned and had spread to her lymph nodes in her neck, all the way down to her stomach. The scan also showed more "suspicious" activity, this time in her liver. Because of the extent of the spread of the cancer to so many lymph nodes, the oncologist explained that surgery wasn't an option to remove the lymph nodes, that there wasn't a cure for this and she would need to have chemo for the rest of her life in order to prevent the cancer from spreading from the lymph nodes to other major organs. That was one of the most difficult things for anyone to have to hear. To know you have to endure chemotherapy being infused into you for 3 straight days, every 2 weeks, would devastate anyone, but Liz was determined to beat this even though the chemo was grueling. Liz was once again prepped for surgery a few weeks later so the surgeon could remove the part of the liver they believed had cancer and to reinsert a new medi-port for the chemo which was once again on the horizon. Surgery on the liver is extensive and entails an incision from the top of her stomach, past her belly button, then it swoops around to her back. As everyone waited for hours for the surgery to be completed, the surgeon came down to talk to everyone. He explained that he made his incision in Liz's stomach, top to bottom, but before he went further, he actually reached inside her to feel the liver where the scan showed the possible cancerous part and he said it didnt feel right. He removed a piece of her liver and they biopsied it there. Thankfully, the liver did not have cancer so the surgeon closed her stomach back up and the new medi-port was put in. Although the good part was that the liver did not have cancer, just the huge incision in her stomach took months for her to recover from before she could be strong enough for chemo again. This time the chemo would be more extensive and have more severe side effects. Liz's hair began to fall out about a week after the new chemo meds were started, which was traumatic to see just in how fast the hair was just coming off her head. The chemo also had the side effects of causing her to have severe neuropathy in her hands and feet so she was unable to hold things, walking was painful and she was unable to drink or touch anything cold because it felt like it was burning her. Just imagine how any of you would feel if you were thirsty and your body could not tolerate drinking some cold water. There was many a night where Liz was crying in agony from all of these chemo side effects, with little that could be done. Yet she is still fighting and enduring this today determined not to stop fighting this battle. Liz had to also endure yet another surgery, as another scan showed she also had thyroid cancer. Her thyroid gland was fully removed and she has to be on thyroid medication for the rest of her life. After years of being on chemo, the cancer in her lymph nodes began to show signs of becoming more active so we decided it would be best to go to the best cancer hospital in the US, Sloan Kettering. Liz is now continuing her chemo at Sloan Kettering, but between New Year's Eve and the beginning of February, Liz was admitted into the hospital on three seperate occasions because of the severe pains she is experiencing now. As everyone can see, the last 4 years have been what we all would agree to be a nightmare, yet Liz is still battling to this day, which is why I say she is the strongest and bravest person I have ever met. Liz has the will to keep fighting, but all the doctor's office visits, chemo meds, pain meds, daily meds, numerous hospital admissions, numerous surgeries and due to the fact that this will be a life long battle, I am reaching out to each of you for financial help. I am hoping that our family, our friends, our coworkers, friends of friends or anyone who reads this, to please help with the mountain of bills that have piled up over the last 4 years. Every little bit counts, whether its a $25 donation or a $250 donation or numerous small donations, it all adds up to help. Anything that anyone of you are willing to donate, would be greatly appreciated. Please pray for Liz everyday! We all love Liz and want this nightmare to come to an end. Please help. Thank you.
This is Alex Mercado and I am starting this fundraiser for the strongest and bravest person I know, my wife Elizabeth (Liz). About 4 years ago, Liz started having excruciating pains in her stomach. During a visit to her doctor, the doctor immediately wanted Liz to go to an emergency room because something didn't feel right in what she felt in her stomach that day. It turns out, that doctor probably saved Liz's life. Liz was admitted to the hospital that same day although no one knew what was wrong or causing the severe pain she was in. For a week, the doctor's at Metropolitan Hospital, tried to do a colonoscopy. Liz was so swollen in her anal cavity that after numerous attempts, the doctor's were unable to do the colonoscopy. After a week, they were finally able to do the colonoscopy and that's where they discovered the source of what was going on. Liz had a huge mass in her intestine/colon that was blocking her digestive system. That mass turned out to be colon cancer which was diagnosed as stage 4 colon cancer. Although we were grateful that the doctor's finally found out what was wrong, we all wanted Liz transferred to another hospital better equipped with dealing with what we knew was going to be a long battle. Thanks to a childhood family friend of Liz, whom she and I will always be indebted to, Dr Adam Aponte, Adam reached out to his colleagues in Mount Sinai Hospital and she was immediately transferred there. Adam made sure Liz was seen by the best oncologist, best gastroenterologist and best surgeon at Mount Sinai. Within a week, Liz had the first of her many surgeries, with this one being extensive. The surgeon had to remove the cancerous part of the colon and reattach the colon back together. He also removed one of her ovaries, which looked very "suspicious" to the surgeon and possibly was cancerous as well. They also implanted a medi-port in her chest that is connected to a main artery in her neck. This medi-port would be how Liz would be administered the chemo that was to follow shortly after her surgery. After a year of chemo following her initial surgery, all tests showed the chemo had worked and the cancer had not spread and was gone from her body. At that point Liz had surgery to have her medi-port removed. There were routine follow up visits to the oncologist to monitor her over the next several months and all looked fine until her blood tests started to show her tumor marker counts were beginning to rise again. After a full body xray scan was done, the test showed that though the cancer had not returned to her colon, it had returned and had spread to her lymph nodes in her neck, all the way down to her stomach. The scan also showed more "suspicious" activity, this time in her liver. Because of the extent of the spread of the cancer to so many lymph nodes, the oncologist explained that surgery wasn't an option to remove the lymph nodes, that there wasn't a cure for this and she would need to have chemo for the rest of her life in order to prevent the cancer from spreading from the lymph nodes to other major organs. That was one of the most difficult things for anyone to have to hear. To know you have to endure chemotherapy being infused into you for 3 straight days, every 2 weeks, would devastate anyone, but Liz was determined to beat this even though the chemo was grueling. Liz was once again prepped for surgery a few weeks later so the surgeon could remove the part of the liver they believed had cancer and to reinsert a new medi-port for the chemo which was once again on the horizon. Surgery on the liver is extensive and entails an incision from the top of her stomach, past her belly button, then it swoops around to her back. As everyone waited for hours for the surgery to be completed, the surgeon came down to talk to everyone. He explained that he made his incision in Liz's stomach, top to bottom, but before he went further, he actually reached inside her to feel the liver where the scan showed the possible cancerous part and he said it didnt feel right. He removed a piece of her liver and they biopsied it there. Thankfully, the liver did not have cancer so the surgeon closed her stomach back up and the new medi-port was put in. Although the good part was that the liver did not have cancer, just the huge incision in her stomach took months for her to recover from before she could be strong enough for chemo again. This time the chemo would be more extensive and have more severe side effects. Liz's hair began to fall out about a week after the new chemo meds were started, which was traumatic to see just in how fast the hair was just coming off her head. The chemo also had the side effects of causing her to have severe neuropathy in her hands and feet so she was unable to hold things, walking was painful and she was unable to drink or touch anything cold because it felt like it was burning her. Just imagine how any of you would feel if you were thirsty and your body could not tolerate drinking some cold water. There was many a night where Liz was crying in agony from all of these chemo side effects, with little that could be done. Yet she is still fighting and enduring this today determined not to stop fighting this battle. Liz had to also endure yet another surgery, as another scan showed she also had thyroid cancer. Her thyroid gland was fully removed and she has to be on thyroid medication for the rest of her life. After years of being on chemo, the cancer in her lymph nodes began to show signs of becoming more active so we decided it would be best to go to the best cancer hospital in the US, Sloan Kettering. Liz is now continuing her chemo at Sloan Kettering, but between New Year's Eve and the beginning of February, Liz was admitted into the hospital on three seperate occasions because of the severe pains she is experiencing now. As everyone can see, the last 4 years have been what we all would agree to be a nightmare, yet Liz is still battling to this day, which is why I say she is the strongest and bravest person I have ever met. Liz has the will to keep fighting, but all the doctor's office visits, chemo meds, pain meds, daily meds, numerous hospital admissions, numerous surgeries and due to the fact that this will be a life long battle, I am reaching out to each of you for financial help. I am hoping that our family, our friends, our coworkers, friends of friends or anyone who reads this, to please help with the mountain of bills that have piled up over the last 4 years. Every little bit counts, whether its a $25 donation or a $250 donation or numerous small donations, it all adds up to help. Anything that anyone of you are willing to donate, would be greatly appreciated. Please pray for Liz everyday! We all love Liz and want this nightmare to come to an end. Please help. Thank you.
Organizer
Alexis Mercado
Organizer
New York, NY
