
Please Help save my mom's life!!
Donation protected
Please read the full story. I wanted to explain as much as I could!
Hi my name is Kerra as many of you ( not all) know my mom Christina (Chrissy) Schuler was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer back in 2004. The cancer was very aggressive and she underwent an extensive 10.5hr Thyroidectomy and lymph node removal surgery, her vocal cord was severed during surgery which left her no voice at all for 6 weeks. They couldn't remove all the cancer so she was treated with RAI. in 2007 the scan showed no signs of cancer so it was a success!
Well 2 months ago my mom had a lump on her neck. She thought it was an infection, that caused a swollen lymph node due to a wisdom tooth that needed to be removed. She went to urgent care they gave her antibiotics and the lump appeared to go away. Only to come back 2 weeks later. So she went to the oral surgeon to have the wisdom tooth removed to get this infection to go away. Well the lump or what was thought to be a swollen lymph node did not go away! In fact it was getting very painful! One night she wasn't feeling good so she went to bed. That night the lump was the size of a quarter, when she woke up it was the size of a softball! She packed a bag because she knew it had to be something that would require hospitalization and went to the ER. She was right they drew blood and did a CT scan of the mass but could not conclude what it was!
So they put in a transfer to the hospital. That's where the nightmare begins! During that 5 day hospital stay my mom was put through complete hell! She had her blood drawn 9 different times, they listed her as no food or drink by mistake for 2 days, then another mistake she was put on a restricted diet she didn't need to be on! Then an ultrasound, Biposy which was messed up because the Dr did not get enough tissue or cells to do all the testing they needed! One of the nurses did not tighten the cap after temporarily disconnecting my mom's IV. My mom was exhausted fell asleep for approximately 50 minutes and woke up. Her, the bed and the floor were completly covered in blood! No idea how much blood was lost they didn't even check they just cleaned everything up and went on about their business! All that testing, a 5 day hospital stay they still had no idea what it was or what was gong on.
Then a whole week later the news came. My mom's Thyroid cancer came back after 20yrs! Thyroid cancer is usually very slow growing and very treatable so they thought they could schedule her surgery for 2 months away. My mom said absolutely not please believe me, my surgery can not wait you have to do it ASAP because I'm not the normal case my cancer was very aggressive the first time and I promise it will be the same this time! Not really convinced about what she was saying, but they did listen and moved it up.
The surgeon said thank GOD my mom pushed to move it up! Because when he got in there the cancer was VERY bad! It was right up against her jugular vein and pressing on her spine! He ended up having to dissect 15 different muscles to get to it, removed 12 lymh nodes, removed a major nerve because it was completely encased by the Cancer, and her vocal cord was paralyzed during the 7.5 hr surgery, so she has very little voice. She was discharged 3 days later. Her recovery has been BRUTAL! When she was discharged from the hospital, She was in so much pain but pushed through without using any pain meds. Until she realized something just isn't right, she told the surgeon something is wrong! She explained what she was experiencing and he said come in right away. So on top of everything else she got an infection in her neck, the drain that was put in place for 2 weeks had to be removed a week early and she had a bad allergic reaction to the surgical glue used to close the incision! Which caused lots of excruciating pain and felt like her neck was on fire everyday! There was nothing that could be done she had to suffer for 3 weeks until the incision was closed and the glue came off.
Then the final post surgery pathology report came back and it was at her post-op appointment that she was told this was not normal papilary Thyroid cancer this time. It is a very rare, VERY aggressive cancer that would require radiation. Still not knowing the full extent of it or what that all meant. She was scheduled to see the medical and radiation oncologists. It was at those appointments the BIGGEST BLOW came! My mom was diagnosed with (Anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid) (ATC) is the most aggressive thyroid gland malignancy. ATC is very rare less than 1% get this type of thyroid cancer, it causes up to 40% of deaths from thyroid cancer. The aggressive nature of ATC causes it to be very resistant to treatment and makes treating it very difficult!! The overall 5-year survival rate is reportedly less than 10%, and most patients do not live longer than 12 months after diagnosis.
With that being said the oncologists and my mom refuse to give up! My mom will be starting Radiation and Chemotherapy On October 8th. Radiation is every single day for 6 weeks, She will simultaneously be treated with a, very strong combination Chemo that will be once a week for 6 weeks, then she will be put on a 2 chemo pill form regimen indefinitely! Without any guarantee any of it will work. There will be many horrible side affects from the treatments!
- My mom has and would prefer we not bring attention to her battle/struggle. But thats just not possible
because the medical and continuous bills due treatments and everyday living expenses are piling up! That is causing her a tremendous amount of stress! We are trying to keep her as stress free as possible so she can focus the energy she can mustar up on fighting this and getting through treatments. My Mom has done so much for me, my son and anyone in need she comes in contact with. She's always been the first one to be there or help anyone in need even strangers! During this difficult time, we now have the opportunity to give back to someone who has so selflessly given so much to others! With that being said if you would please consider making a financial donation to help with the continued medical treatments, necessary, to ensure that my mom has access to every resource available to fight this battle!! As well as medications, everyday living expenses and after life planning when it comes to that. We would be forever grateful! Please understand that : No amount is too big or too small every dollar will help!
Thank you in advance for your generosity, love, prayers and support!
A very broken hearted Daughter!
#F&CK CANCER!!!!!!
Organizer and beneficiary

Shakerra Sampson
Organizer
Marana, AZ

Christina Schuler
Beneficiary