Dear friends and family of Virginia, Patrick, Grace and Molly Egan,

If you know any or all of the Egans, then you have been blessed with knowing one of the most beautiful and kindest families out there, and you are lucky to be loved by and to love them. Now is our opportunity to reflect that love and light on them and to help them in a meaningful way during an absolutely critical time. We have set up this GoFundMe account on their behalf, and with their permission.

To bring you up to date:

In mid-February, Virginia began experiencing abdominal pain around and under her rib cage and noticed unexplained bruising on her arms and legs. As it intensified over a few days, she went to urgent care and was quickly sent to the emergency room where blood tests reflected a critically low blood platelet count that would make a fall or bump to the head a fatal event. Virginia was admitted to the hospital that very evening and over a few days, she received several blood platelet transfusions and steroid treatments which were unsuccessful in improving her blood counts and therefore she required a bone marrow biopsy on Thursday, February 23.

The biopsy results confirmed that Virginia had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and the Egan family’s world was turned upside down. In only five days, Virginia went from not feeling well and running down to Urgent Care with vague stomach pain to being diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood and bone marrow cancer and checked into a hospital hours from home for weeks of inpatient treatments

On Monday, February 27, Virginia checked into Tampa General Hospital’s Cancer Institute for more specific testing which revealed she is “Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL” and her medical team has created a customized treatment plan based on that information that will include several phases of grueling inpatient treatment now and ongoing outpatient and additional inpatient treatments back and forth to the hospital for many months.

In very basic terms, on Thursday night, March 2, she began Phase 1, an inpatient regimen of chemotherapy, which is designed to “knock out” a significant portion of the leukemia cells to make room for Phase 2 immunotherapy treatment, which will support her own body’s immune response to recognizing and destroying cancer cells while boosting healthy cell growth.

Some portions of the immunotherapy treatment are administered on an outpatient basis, but because Virginia is a high risk patient, she may need to reside for a while near Tampa General during that phase. Tampa General is approximately 2 hours away, considering traffic, from their home in Venice. Even when these longer focused inpatient treatments are behind her, there will be many months of returning to Tampa General for additional treatment and follow up.

The Egans raised their twin daughters, Molly and Grace, for 15 years in the Ridgefield, CT community. They recently moved to Venice, Florida to be closer to Virginia’s mom and where Virginia continued to work full-time remotely as Director of Human Resources at Foundation Source. Both Pat and Virginia have been looking forward to celebrating their daughters’ college graduations (Grace from Ohio Wesleyan this spring and Molly in 2024 from Case Western University).

No one plans or expects to receive an immediate and life-threatening cancer diagnosis and hearing this news is a shock at any point in anyone’s life. Even with medical insurance and a disability plan through her company, (for which she is very grateful), the Egan family is facing significant out-of-pocket medical and associated living costs. Their income is significantly reduced while Virginia is on disability. To help show love and support for the family, please consider making a monetary donation to help reduce their financial burdens and alleviate some of their stress.

Thank you for your support!

Pat, Virginia, Molly and Grace, you are not alone in this! We are all here for you.