Let's help Pat fight the battle against Ovarian Cancer!

We've finally gotten Pat to agree to tell her story and let us create a GoFundMe page to help her with her most recent battle. The photo of Pat below was taken after she learned the lump the emergency room CT scan detected was cancer. Not just any cancer, a rare cancer called triple MT or Malignant Mixed Mullerian Tumor, only 1% of all cancers make the designation. "...very agressive" the doctors added to their diagnosis. This cancer can metastasize to blood, bone and any soft tissue. So, as the photo would suggest, she was in shock, disbelief and overwhelmed. It would be 2 weeks until they could schedule surgery, several weeks in rehab and then 6 months of heavy duty chemo with the hope of total remission. She steeled up for the battle, did her infusion center time... lost her hair and the feeling in her hands and fingers, was sick and weak and wanted to give up more times then she cares to recall... but she made it through.



Her incentive during the entire time is a tiny bundle of energy known as Tilly...her grandaughter! She desparately wants to be there to watch her grow up...to have conversations with her, to explore nature and pet all kinds of animals; to laugh with her and to hug her tightly. She waited after treatment crossing her fingers for the blessing of full remission but it did not happen that way. The cancer returned. Pat researched all the literature she could find related to her cancer and found a clinical trial at MD Anderson that was immunotherapy. She traveled to Houston and made it through all the hoops only to be turned away in the end over 2 centimters in the size of her cancer that had returned.

So she was once again the patient with the chemo port surgically implanted for a second time, another six months of chemo (12 treatments in all) at Methodist Hospital in Omaha with her original surgeon overseeing her treatment this time. She was more determined than ever to find an immunotherapy clinical trial suited for her hybrid carcinoma sarcoma. While undergoing her second regime of chemo she continued researching any options, reading every clinical trial she could find that would be willing to allow the inclusion of a rare MMMT cancer to the strict clinical trial standards.

She finished her second 6 rounds of chemo and set her targets on a Doctor at Roswell Cancer Center , Dr. Odunsi . They were conducting a clinical trial tailor made for her cancer type...and she was accepted for the study...but Pat is up against the seemingly unsurmountable costs of travel, lodging and assorted medical costs associated with participating in a trial so far away (Buffalo, New York) for 7 months of treatment with two years of follow up. Pat has managed the costs she had previously incurred for hospital stays, imaging scans, specialty clinics and the like. She has been able to keep her head above water up until this point, but will now need the additional funds before she can continue on her next treatment sessions in the months ahead.

Pat has no choice but to travel because currently there are no immunotherapy trials in the midwest that will accept her cancer type... she has chosen to fight like hell to be there for her grandbaby, her son and her family but needs some people willing to be in her corner for this third bout in the ring with cancer. If you can help her get there and back, she can promise she will do her part to win the battle and she will continue to pay it forward for each and every kind gesture, moral, physical and financial support she has received thus far and in the future. She has made it through two years of battling the enemy within and is grateful for every morning sunrise and the promise it brings.

Thanks for reading Pat's story and for being in her corner through the remaining battle for her life.

Here's a link you might find interesting regarding her opponent in the ring.

Quick graphical explanations and Statistics

If you aren't able to help financially please pray for Pat during this struggle. Prayer can be such a powerful thing.

Pat is deeply grateful to all who have helped her through her struggles to this point...her Nebraska Game and Parks co-worker's who have contributed vacation leave; all those kind people who have left prepared dinners at her door, prayers and rosaries said, cards, ongoing notes, texts, posts, and phone calls sent in support and encouragement.
Companions and family members who have provided support by sitting with her through the long hours of chemo infusions and those who have driven her when she couldn't drive herself to those appts. Friends who drop in to help her around the house...
The young men at Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity and their families who have conducted fundraisers for her and provided emotional support, humor and acceptance while sharing their own family's experiences with this malady.
All the community support through local and national agencies has helped get her through the obstacles placed before her at each stage of her journey thus far, and of course the medical staff at the centers where she has been treated who work so gallantly over the years to help individuals in her situation on a daily basis! Their patience, wisdom and understanding is key each step of the way.

Pat counts her blessings and is grateful for each and every day.


The photo above was Tilly cheering Pat up the day she had to have her head shaved. Tilly thought this headwrap would be a good one.