My sister, Linda, is the most caring and generous person I know. For example, last winter she made bags for the homeless. She always wants to help people who are less fortunate. So please let's help her, in this time of need.

Here is her story. As most of you know, my sister, Linda, broke her ankle last year in April. She has metal allergies, and doctors knew about it and by July 1st she had to have a second surgery due to festering caused by her allergies. She tried to tell doctors as she was concerned day 1 of her 1st surgery which was on May 2nd. After her second surgery, her mom noticed a druppy lip. But the doctor put a hospital only wound vac on so the druppy lip was put on the back burner. By July 3rd, she had full facial paralysis. Silver Cross diagnosed Bell's Palsy after a brain CT and her neurologist at Rush concurred. So just something to add onto her already painful ankle. After 4 month of not walking, physical therapy began 2 times per week. She also started acupuncture to try to help with her facial paralysis, what they said was Bell's Palsy. She started noticing facial improvement with acupuncture. She was so happy! January 2025 came along and she seen her endocrinologist, who she sees every 6 months since her thyroid cancer when she was 19. She noticed a little nodule behind her right ear. She already discussed it with her back in June of 2024. She kept telling her thyroid cancer does not grow there. Linda asked her for a PET scan as she was getting those roughly every 2 years. The endocrinologist said everything looked good with her blood work and no need for a PET scan. The fine needle aspiration she ordered in November of 2024 was non malignant. She reassured Linda twice that it wasn't anything to worry about. Now she started having issues getting physical therapy consistently, just more to put on her plate. Insurance was only approving 6 sessions at a time which is equivalent to 3 weeks. So she would get better then regress because she could not get consistent physical therapy. This nodule started getting bigger and Linda new something wasn't right. She started looking for an ENT through her primary care doctor, but of course, the soonest appointment was 4 weeks out. So she seen him at the end of April 2025. He ordered a CT of her head and neck. Those results came back showing nodules for concern. He felt her papillary thyroid cancer has come back. She then decided to message her endocrinologist since she kept saying nothing was wrong and now obviously something was wrong. She referred her to the co-director of head and neck surgical oncology at University of Chicago. He then ordered a MRI, a PET scan, and multiple biopsies. It came back as cancerous. She had to have surgery in June of 2025, very extensive. They had to take a nerve and muscle from her right thigh. The nerve was to reanimate her facial nerve which had to be sacrificed due to the cancer and the thigh muscle was used to bulk up her neck for plans of potential radiation. She woke up and noticed what things looked like. She cried as it was a shock to her. And the pain was excruciating. It took doctor's 2 days to finally get it controlled for her. Now, she is home. She will start radiation and chemotherapy in about 2 weeks. Radiation is daily and chemotherapy is once a week. She has been out of work since April of 2024. Bills have been piling up. And once it turned to a year off of work, her insurance transitioned to COBRA which is now slightly over $1000 per month. She still has her mortgage, student loans, and everything else to sustain daily living (electric, gas, etc). I know money is tight for everyone. But if you could find it in your hearts to donate, she would greatly appreciate it. Anything would help. Thank you all!