Support for Ann-Marie
Donation protected
UPDATE FOR DECEMBER 2020:
It's almost Christmas, but Ann-Marie has just been given devastating news. The pain she's been experiencing lately, which doctors thought was colitis brought on by the chemo she was on, was found instead to be cancer in her omentum, the area adjacent to her stomach. We are asking again for donations to help Ann-Marie return to her additional treatments, which had been so successful in helping her fight thus far. Please help this wonderful, giving woman continue to be the warrior that she is, and give her the gift of more time with her family. We would appreciate any additional donations to show Ann-Marie and her family our love and support this Christmas.
(With GoFundMe re-vamping their platform, not all of our donations are currently showing, but they are in the final stages of upgrading this page to reflect the accurate total to date.)
UPDATE FOR MAY 2020: Good News and Bad News
Between the traditional chemotherapy and integrative treatments, Ann Marie's three active areas of cancer were reduced to one primary site, which allowed her to qualify for radiation. It was hoped that radiating it would shrink the tumour enough that she could then qualify for surgery. Unfortunately the tumour was resistant to the radiation treatments and started growing, and a secondary site became active again. Ann Marie is now back on heavy dose chemotherapy and would dearly love to be able to continue her integrative treatments. This combination has been successful before, keeping her cancer in check and helping her to feel well and live a mostly normal life. We want to make this happen again!
Ann Marie would like to say that even if she never receives another penny, she is so very grateful for your love, your support, your prayers, and the kindness you have shown as she continues to battle this disease. I would like to say: please help Ann Marie continue to fight. I am aware that in these uncertain times, financial stress is a reality for many people, in addition to Ann Marie's family. But please consider donating what you can to help in providing these proven integrative treatments that are not covered by health plans in Canada. I believe that Ann Marie will be well again with our help. Love and peace to all who have taken the time to read and consider this request.
THE ORIGINAL STORY:
On an ordinary day at the end of August, 2018, my friend Ann-Marie suffered an unusual pain. Thinking it might be kidney stones, she headed to the hospital. Doctors could immediately see that it was much worse than she had anticipated. Ann-Marie had colon cancer.
Over the next two months, doctors ran many tests, and continued to deliver worse news. The colon cancer was stage IV; it had metastasized to far-away lymph nodes. As a result, the surgery she had hoped for was rejected by oncologists, and Ann-Marie was told that chemotherapy would be her only treatment plan. Chemotherapy, for as long as it works, would shrink her tumor and manage the cancer cells that were now elsewhere in her body.
In doing her research and consulting other doctors, Ann-Marie discovered that in many other places in the world, both alternative and integrative treatments are available to patients with this diagnosis. These are standard, proven cancer-fighting treatments, offered in countries such as Germany. Unfortunately, although some of them are available in Canada, they are not covered by our health plans. Ann-Marie would like to be able to add integrative treatments to her chemotherapy regimen as soon as possible, to help her fight this disease.
To know Ann-Marie is to love her. She is a wonderful wife, mother, sister, daughter, auntie, and friend. Kind and generous, Ann-Marie is often the first to reach out, to help a friend in need, support a worthy cause, or donate her time as a volunteer. Her compassion, intelligence, honesty, integrity, and sense of humour have made her, as one friend put it, “the best of us”. She is facing her new reality with courage and positivity, but she needs our help.
During this extremely challenging time, I ask that you please support Ann-Marie and her family, as they undertake this difficult journey together. By raising funds, I hope we can ease their financial stress and support Ann-Marie’s desire to get every proven treatment available, to help her fight this devastating diagnosis. Thank you for taking the time to read Ann-Marie’s story. Any help towards the cost of treatments would be appreciated.
It's almost Christmas, but Ann-Marie has just been given devastating news. The pain she's been experiencing lately, which doctors thought was colitis brought on by the chemo she was on, was found instead to be cancer in her omentum, the area adjacent to her stomach. We are asking again for donations to help Ann-Marie return to her additional treatments, which had been so successful in helping her fight thus far. Please help this wonderful, giving woman continue to be the warrior that she is, and give her the gift of more time with her family. We would appreciate any additional donations to show Ann-Marie and her family our love and support this Christmas.
(With GoFundMe re-vamping their platform, not all of our donations are currently showing, but they are in the final stages of upgrading this page to reflect the accurate total to date.)
UPDATE FOR MAY 2020: Good News and Bad News
Between the traditional chemotherapy and integrative treatments, Ann Marie's three active areas of cancer were reduced to one primary site, which allowed her to qualify for radiation. It was hoped that radiating it would shrink the tumour enough that she could then qualify for surgery. Unfortunately the tumour was resistant to the radiation treatments and started growing, and a secondary site became active again. Ann Marie is now back on heavy dose chemotherapy and would dearly love to be able to continue her integrative treatments. This combination has been successful before, keeping her cancer in check and helping her to feel well and live a mostly normal life. We want to make this happen again!
Ann Marie would like to say that even if she never receives another penny, she is so very grateful for your love, your support, your prayers, and the kindness you have shown as she continues to battle this disease. I would like to say: please help Ann Marie continue to fight. I am aware that in these uncertain times, financial stress is a reality for many people, in addition to Ann Marie's family. But please consider donating what you can to help in providing these proven integrative treatments that are not covered by health plans in Canada. I believe that Ann Marie will be well again with our help. Love and peace to all who have taken the time to read and consider this request.
THE ORIGINAL STORY:
On an ordinary day at the end of August, 2018, my friend Ann-Marie suffered an unusual pain. Thinking it might be kidney stones, she headed to the hospital. Doctors could immediately see that it was much worse than she had anticipated. Ann-Marie had colon cancer.
Over the next two months, doctors ran many tests, and continued to deliver worse news. The colon cancer was stage IV; it had metastasized to far-away lymph nodes. As a result, the surgery she had hoped for was rejected by oncologists, and Ann-Marie was told that chemotherapy would be her only treatment plan. Chemotherapy, for as long as it works, would shrink her tumor and manage the cancer cells that were now elsewhere in her body.
In doing her research and consulting other doctors, Ann-Marie discovered that in many other places in the world, both alternative and integrative treatments are available to patients with this diagnosis. These are standard, proven cancer-fighting treatments, offered in countries such as Germany. Unfortunately, although some of them are available in Canada, they are not covered by our health plans. Ann-Marie would like to be able to add integrative treatments to her chemotherapy regimen as soon as possible, to help her fight this disease.
To know Ann-Marie is to love her. She is a wonderful wife, mother, sister, daughter, auntie, and friend. Kind and generous, Ann-Marie is often the first to reach out, to help a friend in need, support a worthy cause, or donate her time as a volunteer. Her compassion, intelligence, honesty, integrity, and sense of humour have made her, as one friend put it, “the best of us”. She is facing her new reality with courage and positivity, but she needs our help.
During this extremely challenging time, I ask that you please support Ann-Marie and her family, as they undertake this difficult journey together. By raising funds, I hope we can ease their financial stress and support Ann-Marie’s desire to get every proven treatment available, to help her fight this devastating diagnosis. Thank you for taking the time to read Ann-Marie’s story. Any help towards the cost of treatments would be appreciated.
Organizer and beneficiary
Tracy Marlowe
Organizer
Coquitlam, BC
Ann-Marie Gasher
Beneficiary