Please Help Emily Overcome Cancer

Dear Friends and Family,

On June 23rd, my second youngest daughter Emily received a devastating diagnosis of colon cancer. She, her husband Matthew, and their children Caleb and Brandy were frightened and heartbroken at this sudden and unexpected upheaval this brought their family. As Emily’s mom, I am shattered by the second occurrence this summer of cancer in my daughters.

Diagnosis

Emily had been having symptoms of what she thought was IBS for months, and at a visit with her primary care provider, she was immediately referred for a colonoscopy. The gastroenterologist discovered a large malignant tumor in her colon during that procedure. Several weeks of anxiety and lack of information about what was to come ensued.

Then, beginning July 12th, through appointments with multiple MD’s, the situation started becoming clearer. First, Emily saw her surgeon, Dr. Bascom, the son of former Eugene mayor Ruth Bascom and a personable and knowledgeable doctor. She has also had visits with an oncologist and a radiation oncologist at Willamette Valley Cancer Institute (WVCI), both of whom are excellent. Emily has also had several MRI, CT, and PET scans over the last several weeks. Finally, a plan of action began to emerge, and Emily began treatment today, August 10th.

Treatment

Emily is facing nine months of cancer treatment. Her cancer is stage 3A, and scans don’t show spread to other organs. The first phase of treatment will be “external beam radiation” five days a week for the next five and a half weeks. Simultaneously, she will have oral chemo – three pills every morning and evening of Xeloda (Capecitabine). She won’t experience side effects immediately but knows to expect a sunburn-like rash on the skin where the radiation is beamed, fatigue, and other possible effects. In addition, the chemo effects could include mouth sores, abdominal pain, nausea, and a rash on her hands and feet.

During this phase of treatment, Emily will have weekly visits with Dr. Wendland, the radiation oncologist, and visits with her oncologist Dr. Butrynski every couple of weeks. They’ll monitor her via regular labs, and after the chemo and radiation are finished (on about September 19th), she’ll have more scans.

Six to eight weeks after she finishes radiation and oral chemo, Emily will undergo surgery – around October 20th – to remove the tumor, which the doctors expect will have diminished in size. A few weeks after the surgery, she’ll begin phase three: four and half months of IV chemo. This timeline means she’ll finish treatment sometime toward early to mid-April next year. It’ll be a long slog, but Emily feels ready and positive about moving forward.

Financial picture

Emily was until recently the owner-operator of a popular and successful pre-school and daycare. Her husband built a special space for it adjoining their home on their property in Veneta. In Emily’s words in her application to PeaceHealth for financial assistance:

“I loved my work with children and their families; however, after ten years of 12-hour days, I was ready to move into a regular 40-hour a week position that allowed me more time with my own family.” Prior to her diagnosis, she had notified her families of a July 31st closure and began applying for positions. Emily continues: “So despite multiple positive interviews and potential job offers, I have not felt comfortable disclosing to possible employers that my availability will be reduced over the next nine months due to treatment and its effects, surgery, and recovery. We are now relying solely on my husband’s income as a dump truck driver to cover our regular bills, not including cancer-related bills coming in.”

Emily’s bills so far from radiology, pathology, imaging, and other non-PeaceHealth providers, even after the nominal payments from her Kaiser insurance, are $3,300. Living rurally, the daily drive into town for radiation will be a hardship in terms of the cost of gas and time. While we hope that she’ll receive at least partial financial assistance from PeaceHealth and WVCI for their charges, even with that, there will be additional costs for the surgeon, for colostomy supplies, for medications and supplements, and for the loss of income when Matt will inevitably need to take time off during Emily’s treatment and surgery. We don’t know the amount of the out-of-pocket costs that will accrue, but we expect them to be huge.

We’ve set the goal for this GoFundMe at $20,000. Many of you have already contributed generously to Jessica’s cancer treatment costs, and we are so very grateful to each of you. For Emily, just as for Jessica, your monetary support will lighten the financial burden that she – and anyone experiencing serious health issues – shouldn’t have to bear.

We welcome your donations in any amount, large or small. We know they will make a difference in Emily’s healing. We are deeply grateful to you for your love, support, thoughts and prayers, and we know that Emily will, as her sister Jessica has done, take great comfort in them.