Update: WOW! We are blown away to have Celina’s initial medical expenses nearly covered already! Thank you all SO MUCH! We are going to increase the goal to help build a cushion for all the other medical expenses that are coming down the line. Deep gratitude to all of you for the peace of mind you’re giving Celina.

Celina was diagnosed with an aggressive form of ovarian cancer (SCCO) in early October just after her 29th birthday. It is extremely rare, making up less than 0.01% of all ovarian cancers. While prognosis has typically been poor for people with advanced stage disease, Celina's was thankfully caught at stage 2, and new treatment protocols are incredibly promising! Her care team is optimistic that they can cure her.

She had a successful surgery to remove the tumor and will now undergo 8 months of treatment, including intense chemo followed by stem cell replacement therapy with UW/Fred Hutch, in consultation with a team at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston that specialize in rare ovarian cancers.

It has obviously been a huge shock, and on top of everything, the cancer and the treatment will seriously impact her fertility. So to hold onto the dream of having kids in the future, she will also undergo egg retrieval before starting chemo.

While Celina was able to qualify for assistance to cover the expensive hormone medications, she will have to pay the full cost of the procedure itself. (A new law is going into effect January 1st that will require insurers in Washington state to cover fertility treatment for cancer patients, but Celina can't wait that long to start chemo.) With the fertility treatment costs, the rest of her medical expenses, and travel to Houston for consultation appointments, the bills are adding up quickly.

We are calling on family, friends, and extended community for support. Every donation, no matter the size, will lift some of the weight off Celina's shoulders and help her focus on the future that awaits her on the other side of cancer.

We're incredibly grateful for Celina's oncology team and other care providers, for cancer research that's rapidly improving the odds for people like her, and for her partner Andrew and the loving community of friends and family who are showing up for her.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!