Ranee's Cancer Crusade
Donation protected
Wow, this is probably one of the hardest things to write, I don't know where to begin. I was diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma early December 2018 and just recently made my cancer journey known via social media; a very difficult thing for me. Since doing this, so many people have inquired about helping us. Up until a few days ago I never considered letting people help until friends encouraged us to make an account so they can help us through our journey.
At this time most of you know I have cancer, unfortunately what accompanies cancer is a pile of medical bills from an extensive 10 day hospital stay, an 10-12 hr surgery and 6 weeks of radiation, not to mention the two previous surgeries I have already underwent. I guess this page is to provide people that want to help an avenue in which to do so.
Below is the Facebook post explaining the next 6 months of my life:
Early December of last year I was diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma/cancer. Since then I have undergone two surgeries to remove the initial tumor and sample lymph nodes for metastasis. Because of my young age I was referred by my oncologist, Dr. Tate at Johnson's Center for Cancer care, to the University of Michigan last week. The decision was made by a team of U of M doctors to have me undergo further radical surgeries to basically save my life and remove every bit of cancer to ensure it doesn't return. March 12th I will be hospitalized at The University of Michigan hosptial in Ann Arbor for 7 to 10 days during which they will remove half of my tongue and reconstruct a new one from fat and tissue grafts from my arm and thigh. They are also removing all the lymph nodes from my neck and chin. During my stay, due to swelling and such, I will require a feeding tube to eat and tracheostomy to be able to breath, both of which I will have for several weeks following the surgery. Once I have healed from this surgery (approx 6 weeks) I will undergo 6 weeks of radiation to my head and neck. This will destroy any cancer cells along with a lot of my new tongue. The side effects of head and neck radiation are terrible so I will be unable to work through all of this. The radiation will damage my new tongue so bad I will work with a speech pathologist for months after to regain strength in the tongue and learn how to eat and speak again.
What I have learned these last few days and months is that I have amazing family, coworkers and friends. Your prayes and support have brought tears to our eyes and thankfulness to our hearts. Having people reach out and offer help is so humbling, I honestly have no words but thank you all for caring about us so much. We are beyond blessed and thankful to be surrounded by such amazing people.
At this time most of you know I have cancer, unfortunately what accompanies cancer is a pile of medical bills from an extensive 10 day hospital stay, an 10-12 hr surgery and 6 weeks of radiation, not to mention the two previous surgeries I have already underwent. I guess this page is to provide people that want to help an avenue in which to do so.
Below is the Facebook post explaining the next 6 months of my life:
Early December of last year I was diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma/cancer. Since then I have undergone two surgeries to remove the initial tumor and sample lymph nodes for metastasis. Because of my young age I was referred by my oncologist, Dr. Tate at Johnson's Center for Cancer care, to the University of Michigan last week. The decision was made by a team of U of M doctors to have me undergo further radical surgeries to basically save my life and remove every bit of cancer to ensure it doesn't return. March 12th I will be hospitalized at The University of Michigan hosptial in Ann Arbor for 7 to 10 days during which they will remove half of my tongue and reconstruct a new one from fat and tissue grafts from my arm and thigh. They are also removing all the lymph nodes from my neck and chin. During my stay, due to swelling and such, I will require a feeding tube to eat and tracheostomy to be able to breath, both of which I will have for several weeks following the surgery. Once I have healed from this surgery (approx 6 weeks) I will undergo 6 weeks of radiation to my head and neck. This will destroy any cancer cells along with a lot of my new tongue. The side effects of head and neck radiation are terrible so I will be unable to work through all of this. The radiation will damage my new tongue so bad I will work with a speech pathologist for months after to regain strength in the tongue and learn how to eat and speak again.
What I have learned these last few days and months is that I have amazing family, coworkers and friends. Your prayes and support have brought tears to our eyes and thankfulness to our hearts. Having people reach out and offer help is so humbling, I honestly have no words but thank you all for caring about us so much. We are beyond blessed and thankful to be surrounded by such amazing people.
Fundraising team: Team Taters (2)
Ranee Ritzema
Organizer
Raised $3,010 from 30 donations
Allendale, MI
Tanya Debski
Team member
This team raised $6,210 from 44 other donations.
