Help Reduce Magdalena’s Medical Bills for Cancer

I’m making this Gofundme on behalf of my mom, Magdalena Mita.

8/18/22: My mom fought long and hard but unfortunately passed away as of this morning so I will be disabling donations from the page, but the page will still be up. Thanks everyone who has supported us during this time.

7/29/22: Lost ability to walk as of this morning, will be transitioning to in home hospice care. Looking into assisted living options through insurance as well.

6/24/22: Further review of the CT scans reaffirms the progression of the cancer. There are no more treatment options and we are waiting to hear of a more concrete path forward from the oncologist but it is likely that the upcoming chemo cycles will not be administered.

6/22/22: Right lung has collapsed due to pleural effusion. Symptoms are mild and breathing capacity is normal despite only drawing oxygen with left lung. Fluid will be drained today, with hopes of the right lung re-expanding post-procedure. CT scans taken on 6/15 did not indicate growths in right chest/lung area due to heavy amounts of fluid present, though we know the growths are there. Another CT scan will be taken post procedure in order to determine if any major growths in the chest/lung areas have shrunk. Bone metastatic disease is present throughout the thoracic vertebrae, with T3 being the only bone spared. There are no treatment options for this. New growths have also been detected in the brain. The new growths are relatively small (~3 mm) and will be treated with one radiation session.

6/10/22: Dose of administered carboplatin lowered by 20% in an effort to lighten post chemo nausea. Follow up appointment with radiation oncologist to discuss MRI scans moved up to 6/15. CT scans are scheduled for 6/15 as well. 3rd chemo cycle scheduled for 6/16. Follow up appointment to discuss CT scans on 6/24. 4th chemo cycle scheduled for 7/7. 5th chemo cycle scheduled for 7/18. 

5/18/22: The interventional radiology (IR) team reviewed my mom's fracture and concluded that a vertebroplasty will be too dangerous to perform, as there is high risk of the cement leaking into her spinal cord. The IR team suspects that there is a retropulsion of the disc, but would like further MRI scans to come to a definitive conclusion. MRI scans are scheduled for 6/3. Follow up with oncologist on 5/26, before 2nd chemo cycle. 

5/10/22: 2nd chemo cycle scheduled for 5/26.

5/9/22: Vertebroplasty procedure scheduled for 5/17.

4/28/22: Side effects from abdominal radiation therapy are nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Vomiting has occurred since second day of radiation treatment. First cycle of IV chemotherapy is scheduled for 5/2/22. Ondansetron and prochlorezapine have been prescribed for nausea. Follow up appointment with the radiation oncologist 6/22/22.

4/21/22: Treatment plan will be modified from Tagrisso to IV chemotherapy. Two drugs will be administered in IV chemotherapy: carboplatin and pemetrexed. Looking at about a 4-6 cycle treatment, 3 weeks apart. A CT scan will be taken every 2 cycles to monitor progress of the drugs. Once the preliminary cycles are done, maintenance therapy will most likely need to occur and pemetrexed will be continued to be administered. This is the proposed rough treatment plan; a biopsy is needed before the treatment plan can be finalized. If there are significant changes to the EGFR mutation, then the rough treatment plan will most likely change as well. The biopsy will let us know if the lung cancer has developed from small cell lung cancer to a non-small cell lung cancer. 

4/19/22: Decreased mobility in left leg due to increased pain, wheelchair use started 4/17/22. The radiation simulation today was successful; abdominal radiation treatment has been scheduled for 4/25-4/29.

4/14/22: The Tramadol (50 mg) is working to subside the pain and she's not experiencing any severe side effects. The only side effect she's experiencing is drowsiness, which is helping with her insomnia. She has an abdominal radiation simulation scheduled for 4/19. The interventional radiation (IR) team will be reviewing the scan of the fractured L2 bone and determining if it's possible to inject cement into her bone (a procedure known as vertebroplasty). If there is any possibility that the cement will leak out, i.e., the fracture has formed a hole in the bone, then it will not be possible to perform vertebroplasty. Risk of not receiving vertebroplasty will mean a lack of support from L2. This lack of support will result in an increased pressure within the vertebral column to support the load of the body, which could lead to a compression fracture.

4/13/22: Results from the MRI look good, presence of masses in her brain are essentially undetectable per the MRI scan. Results of the CT scan show cancer cells have spread to Magdalena's bones, predominantly to the vertebrae. The bone on her lower back (L2) has fractured due to a tumor weakening the bone. We suspect this is what's causing the pain in her lower back. Her radiation oncologist has recommended a 5 day (consecutive) abdominal radiation treatment, which we will be going through with. The abdominal radiation treatment will radiate bones L1-L3. The CT scan also indicates that a mass in her right lung has more than doubled. In January, it was at 1.6 cm; recent CT scan shows a mass of 3.1 cm. Currently, Magdalena is taking 80 mg of Tagrisso daily. Since the cells are seemingly becoming more aggressive, I plan to discuss my mom's treatment plan with her oncologist next week. It's possible other options need to be explored. Since the pain in my mom's lower back has persisted for the past two weeks and draining the fluid didn't help to diffuse the pain, she will be trying Tramadol. 

3/31/22: Fluid has built up in Magdalena's right lung again. The buildup is causing pain and discomfort throughout her whole back and she is having difficulty moving around the house. She is scheduled to have fluid drained on 4/6. She received an MRI scan on 3/7 and has a

follow up appointment with her radiation oncologist on 4/13 to discuss her MRI results. She has a chest, abdomen and pelvic CT scan on 4/5. Results of her CT scans will be discussed with her oncologist on 4/21.

1/6/22: Results from the 11/15 MRI show that the 2.5mm mass in the caudate nucleus is shrinking; no new growths in the brain have been detected. Path forward is to continue taking the Tagrisso and get another MRI in February and go from there. New side effects from the Tagrisso have started to occur in the past month or so - significant hair loss and visible weight loss (~20 lb. drop).

1/3/22: Magdalena got an abdominal pelvic and chest CT scan. Follow-up appointment with her oncologist to go over these results on 1/10/22.

11/3/21: Magdalena is getting her fluid drained on 11/11/21.

10/29/21: Magdalena seems to be responding to treatment well. Based on the CT scan, her tumors seem to be shrinking. Shown below is her CT scan. The left image is what her masses look like now. The right one is prior to medication. The fluid build up doesn’t seem to be improving, but we are waiting on the pulmonary team to see if she will be able to get it drained.

10/27/21: Magdalena has an appointment with her oncologist on 10/29 to discuss the results of the CT scan.

9/22/21: Magdalena has a CT scan scheduled on 10/26 to determine the presence of new growths in her chest, abdomen and pelvis. She also has an MRI scheduled on 11/15 to determine the presence of new growths in her brain.

8/23/21: Magdalena will be receiving her first radiation session on 9/2/21.

8/17/21: The abdominal and pelvis CT scans showed no malignant tumors. There was a benign tumor found in Magdalena’s abdominal area, but it is not a huge cause for concern at this point in time. The scans also indicated a hypodensity in her liver. Magdalena has been taking 80 mg of Tagrisso daily since 8/11; we are keeping track of her reactions to the medication. Her oncologist will check back in within 3 weeks of the start of her chemo treatment.

8/13/21: New growths have been discovered. Magdalena has a 2.5 mm mass in the caudate nucleus of her brain. She will be receiving radiotherapy via radiosurgery. She will be seeing her radiation oncologist on 8/20/2021 to finalize treatment schedule and simulate a dry run of the treatment to ensure she can handle lying down for the 35-45 minute duration of the treatment, as having fluid build up in her thoracic cavity causes her to have difficulty breathing. Two additional masses have been found on her right ribs - one 5 cm mass on her fifth rib and one 2.5 cm mass on her third rib. The 5 cm mass on her right rib is colliding with her right windpipe and shoving it to the left. The pressure on her windpipe is also causing her to have difficulty breathing and causing her to cough up blood. She received an abdominal and pelvis CT scan yesterday, and has a follow up appointment with her oncologist on 8/16/2021. More to come on the results of the CT scans. Magdalena has started taking Tagrisso as of 8/11/2021.

8/10/21: Magdalena had pleural effusion in her right lung again and went to the hospital yesterday to get her fluid drained (8/9/2021). The interventional pulmonology team has advised for her to place a catheter in her lung so that she is able to drain the fluid more easily. She has been scheduled for a radiation oncology appointment tomorrow 8/11/2021. Magdalena enrolled for a Patients Savings Program through the pharmacy and her Tagrisso pills are covered for now. We enrolled her for a co-pay insurance through Astrazeneca (AZ) Pharmacy. The AZ pharmacy agreed to cover for her medication as long as the cost was bumped up from $8550 to $12000 a month. They have agreed to cover for 2 months worth of her medication. Her pills have been shipped as of yesterday, and we are waiting on their arrival.

8/5/21: Magdalena’s insurance has denied the PET scan again. Their reason behind the denial this time is because Magdalena’s cancer is already at Stage 4, and they felt that it didn’t make sense from a medical standpoint to use a PET scan to determine where the cancer has spread because we already know it has spread. The insurance company has instructed Magdalena’s doctor to order a CT scan instead. Magdalena has been scheduled for an abdominal/pelvis CT scan on 8/12/21. Magdalena was contacted by the pharmacy this morning and was told that the 30 day supply of Tagrisso will have to be paid upfront. As I have mentioned before, a 30 day supply costs $8550 after insurance is applied.

8/3/21: The chemotherapy pills have been approved by the insurance. A 30 day supply of Tagrisso costs $8550 after the deductible. Magdalena has also been scheduled for a PET scan on 8/5/2021.

7/30/21: Magdalena has been scheduled for an MRI scan for 8/6/2021. Her doctor has ordered another PET scan to be scheduled; we are waiting on an appointment date for this. It has been confirmed that Magdalena has the EGFR mutation, which is the cause for her cancer. Because of this mutation, Magdalena is eligible for treatment via chemotherapy pills. Her doctor has ordered the pills and requested that Magdalena start taking the pills daily as soon as they are delivered. Projected start of treatment is now within the next two weeks.

7/29/21: We were informed that the PET scan was denied by the insurance company because the insurance that the hospital had on file for Magdalena was a commercial insurance plan, which entails secondary coverage, which would not cover a PET scan. Magdalena currently has an active insurance policy that entails a primary coverage with more benefits and would have most likely covered the scan. Because the hospital did not have the correct insurance plan on file for her, the claim was filed under the wrong plan and was denied. The hospital has updated Magdalena’s insurance but we are still waiting to hear back from the doctor about the appeal of the insurance claim. We are not sure what the next step is going forward, we have left a message for her doctor to talk about next steps and we are waiting to hear back.

 

7/26/21: Thank you for the overwhelming amount of support that we’ve received over the past 24 hours, our family is truly grateful for the support our community has given us.

Magdalena’s PET scan that was scheduled for today at the VCU Medical Center was denied because her insurance denied the coverage. Typically the hospital has waivers in which a patient can agree to pay for the medical cost of a procedure themselves, but the hospital cancelled her appointment instead of giving her that option. The hospital had no explanation for the cancelled appointment because they use a third party agency to handle appointments, and the third party agency decided to cancel her appointment instead of allowing her to receive care at her own expense. We are not allowed to schedule another PET scan with the doctor until the denial from the insurance company is appealed and the appeal is approved. Magdalena is currently waiting for the appeal process to go through. If the appeal is not approved, the doctor will try other ways to discover the presence of growths in her body. More to come on this, and I will update once we hear further news about this. Magdalena has a follow up appointment with her oncology doctor on 8/9/2021.

7/25/21: Magdalena immigrated from Indonesia to the States to flee a life of poverty and to provide a better life for her two children. Her and her husband have been working tirelessly in the restaurant industry for the past 20 years to make ends meets and to send their kids to college to become first generation college graduates. My sister and I are now both working in our respective fields, me as an engineer and my sister as a data analyst. My parents have been caught up in a vicious cycle of working low income and laborious jobs due to a lack of resources, education and an accumulation of generational trauma. It hasn’t been easy for our family, but their sacrifices are honorable actions I hold very dear to me. I’d like to take this time to financially advocate for my parents in the same way that they have done for me my entire life, by raising awareness on my mom’s cancer diagnosis and raising monetary funds to help my parents out with their financial burdens.

 

The night of 6/29/2021, she was having trouble breathing and was coughing up blood. She immediately went to the emergency room and stayed there overnight. During her stay at the ER, the doctors found that she had presence of fluid in her thoracic cavity (pleural effusion), as well as a large mass in her lungs (5.7 cm). They then took a biopsy of the mass and the conclusive results showed cancerous cells. She was officially diagnosed on 7/7/21 with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer (Adenocarcinoma). Unfortunately, metastatic cancer indicates that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. She is due for a PET scan on 7/26/2021 to determine where the cancer has spread and a possible MRI in the coming weeks to detect cancerous cells in the brain.

My mom has had no history of smoking and nothing in her occupational history exposed her to second hand smoke. Due to this, her doctor is hypothesizing that she has a genetic marker (EGFR mutation) that is specific to women of Asian descent that predisposes them to getting cancer.

Her projected treatment plan entails chemotherapy for at least the next 6 months. If she receives the MRI and cancerous cells are detected in her brain, she will also receive radiation treatments. As we all know, cancer is a very volatile disease so the projected treatment after 6 months will be dependent upon my mom’s responsiveness to the treatment. She is set to start chemo sometime in mid-August to early September.

Our family has been deeply devastated and we are heartbroken to receive this life altering diagnosis. As hard as it has been, we are praying for her spirits along her fight against cancer.

We are thankful for any form of monetary support during this time to aid any medical bills. Please help our family get through this difficult time.

Thank you,

Mita family