Stacy O'Grady Needs Our Help

UPDATE on 2/23/2020:  After nearly two years of battling this, Stacy's daughter Julia (who is now almost 17 years old) has reached a point where Stacy is now taking her home to try to make her as comfortable as possible as she lives out her remaining days.  Finances continue to be a challenge so another wave of contributions would be most appreciated. 

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Our dear friend and classmate, Stacy O'Grady, Notre Dame '90, needs our love and support.  We need to raise $25,000*  to help her with all her expenses. Money will go directly to Stacy and will be spent at her discretion for any expenses she sees fit. Here is her situation: 

Stacy is a single mom raising two beautiful daughters. Her 15 year old daughter, Julia, was diagnosed in August 2017 with angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma.  This is a rare and dangerous cancer. 


It took three weeks in a hospital, a needle biopsy, and six more weeks of testing the biopsy to finally come up with the diagnosis. This cancer is a soft tissue sarcoma, but it is so rare that most people (even some doctors) have never heard of it. 

Julia's surgery in August removed a tumor from her abdomen, her left kidney, and her left adrenal gland. They thought they had defeated it, but in October 2017 she had more abdominal pain. Repeat CT and PET scans showed that the cancer had metastasized (spread) to other lymph nodes near her aorta and chest. 

The doctors were not sure if chemotherapy would even work, but they had no choice.  She started six rounds of chemo in November 2017. In February 2018 , Julia need an additional surgery to remove the remaining involved lymph nodes. This required travel to Seattle for almost three weeks. 

Due to all this, Stacy (who receives minimal child support) had to change her job status to part time. Then in March she had to take an unpaid leave of absence.  Understandably, on top of the extreme anxiety of having a child go through this, she is also worried about things like paying for travel, food, clothing and shelter. 

Although Julia is fighting hard and has a great spirit (like her mama), she will need at least eight more rounds of chemotherapy plus a few rounds of radiation. Treatment will last until at least October, possibly longer.  

Stacy did not seek any financial support from us. But  knowing her personal situation and being intimately familiar with BK's cancer treatments, we knew almost immediately that she could use financial help. Her lost wages alone will total about $25,000. That is why we have raised the goal for this campaign from $12,500 to $20,000. Of course, we'd love to raise the full $25K for her, but we shall see. 

We humbly ask you to join us in this cause. To be able to help a friend in need is one of the greatest joys in life. We ask you to do one or more of the following: 

1. Pray for her and both her children.

2. Reach out to Stacy with a note of support. This is so important! Stacy can be reached at [email redacted] 

3. Contribute to this fund drive to help her with her expenses.  (Note: If you'd like to make a major gift and need a 501(c) org to give to for tax purposes, contact BK directly. He's got it covered.) 

Let's all joyfully support Stacy together!  Thank you for your kind consideration. 

Sincerely, 
Bobby & Craig
aka Craig & Bobby
aka Sweet Brums & BK
aka BK & Sweet Brums