My sister Molly has struggled with multiple different health issues her whole life. It started with a speech delay as a toddler, to having her tonsils removed and the doctor saying, “those were the biggest tonsils I’ve seen on a child her age.” She also had lipomas removed on her back as a small child. In middle/high school, she was found to have an arteriovenous fistula in the bottom of her foot, causing pain, swelling, and trouble walking. As an adult, she has been having headaches more frequently and last year developed a goiter (thyroid mass).

Fast forward to Halloween, Molly was having a constant headache for two weeks, accompanied by blurred vision and feeling off balance. Thinking it was just a migraine that wasn’t going away, she went to the ER at UMMC where they did a CT scan that showed a large mass in the back left side of her brain. They diagnosed her with Lhermitte-Duclos Disease, which is a certain type of tumor in the brain caused by having Cowden Syndrome.

This was the first time Molly was diagnosed with anything, and it connected the dots of all these health problems she has been having her whole life. Cowden Syndrome is a very rare genetic disorder characterized by multiple tumors (hamartomas) and increased risk of thyroid, breast, and uterine cancer.

Back to the tumor in her brain, it was causing hydrocephalus. Thanks to the amazing staff at UMMC, they were able to transfer Molly to the neuro-ICU at Buffalo General on Halloween night. They had to do neuro checks on her every hour due to the hydrocephalus, which could cause seizures. Fortunately, she never had any. She had multiple different imaging done so the neurosurgeon had a good idea of what he would be working on during surgery.

Tuesday morning, they took her into surgery to have the brain tumor removed. It went great, so far no complications besides Thursday night when she popped a stitch, which caused some bleeding. But they re-stitched it and bandaged her head back up. Also, Thursday was the first day post-op she got up and walked the hall with PT/OT.

On top of the brain tumor, she does have multiple thyroid nodules, which from the scans done, are most likely cancerous due to the tissue around it becoming necrotic. The thyroid is causing her trachea to shift over, making it difficult for them to intubate her for surgery, and she had to be intubated longer than expected after surgery. She met with an oncologist in the hospital and had a biopsy done, so now just waiting for the results of that.

Between brain surgery, her thyroid, and just having Cowden Syndrome, she has a long road ahead of her. To top it all off, she was supposed to be starting a new job this past Monday (11/3), so she does not have any sick time or PTO to use to help cover her bills. Me and my family are asking if you could help Molly out to cover some of her medical bills and regular bills so she can just focus on healing/recovery and not stress about bills.

When she is discharged home, which I’m not sure when because they said she might have to go to rehab after this as well, I will be setting up a meal train for her as well.

Any questions, please feel free to reach out to me, Mackenzie Geissler.