Dear Friends and Family,

I am reaching out to let you know about Olympia and what has been going on in such a short amount of time. My name is Lisa Dimaala and Olympia and I have been friends since college… our UTSA days… our Phi Mu days. That’s about 23 years! She is one of my best friends…

Several months back Olympia believed she had pulled a muscle during a workout. After the pain in her leg continued she went to the doctor to get it checked out. She went through 6 weeks of physical therapy as ordered by her doctor for what was thought to be a “hematoma/ leg injury”. As time progressed and the pain worsened, her physical therapist recommended that she should obtain scans for further evaluation. Once the scans were done, she was told that she had a sarcoma. On December 7th, she was in severe pain and went to the ER; it was then and there the medical staff told her she has cancer and it was spreading in her body and into her lungs.

She was referred to an area oncologist and had a biopsy scheduled. Olympia made it to her follow up appointment after the biopsy and on the 28th of December was told she has Stage 4 Ewing’s Sarcoma. She went back to the ER on the same day because it became difficult for her to breathe and she was admitted for pneumonia. She had a procedure to remove the fluid buildup in her lungs and was placed on oxygen. Olympia has endured multiple surgical procedures, treatments, tests and had her first round of chemotherapy on Saturday, December 31st. That is not how she planned to end the year and celebrate the beginning of a new one. She remained in the hospital and was recently discharged on January 4th. She is currently at home resting and trying to regain her strength.

The treatment plan set for Olympia is chemotherapy every 3 weeks for several rounds. She will then have surgery and radiation after. Her oncologist told her this process with recovery will most likely last 6 months to a full year.

Our sweet friend/sister is newly employed by the Comal Independent School District at Startzville Elementary. She is a Diagnostician. She uses her specialized skills, expertise and talents to help young children that have developmental delays and need help.

Olympia has not been able to work for some time now and since she is newly employed, she does not meet the requirements for FMLA and only has approval for LOA (leave of absence) using her saved time off. Her accrued time off will only last until about mid March. We are asking for your help financially as this would relieve a huge burden for her.

Our goal is to raise $20,000.

This will help with medical bills and related healthcare expenses first. We are also looking at necessary expenses related to her cancer diagnosis not covered by insurance. We are taking into consideration her insurance out of pocket maximum as well.

Please keep Olympia and her family in your thoughts and prayers so that she has the love, encouragement and support to move forward. Her white blood cell count is low which compromises her immune system. She is limiting visitors but is with her boyfriend Brayson and her parents. Her mom recently said “Olympia means strength” and I know that’s truly what we have seen from her.

On behalf of Olympia and her family we would like to say thank you for all your thoughts, prayers and donations in advance. ❤️