Support Ella Finney's Fight Against Ovarian Cancer

Ella is 21 years old and is in her senior year at Indiana University Bloomington. This is a time that should be filled with excitement, anticipation, and plans for the future. But instead of just focusing on graduation and all the dreams she's been building for years, Ella is now facing one of the toughest challenges of her life.

On September 25th, she had to undergo major surgery to remove a large tumor from her right ovary. When the pathology results came back, they revealed that the tumor was malignant, a stage 2B granulosa cell tumor. Hearing the word "cancer" at any age is devastating, but for Ella, standing at the edge of adulthood, it felt like her world shifted beneath her feet.

Ella's always been the kind of person who could handle whatever life throws at her. Raised by parents who taught her resilience and kindness, she's faced her share of challenges but nothing like this. Now, instead of celebrating senior year, she's preparing for chemotherapy, which will last through the end of February. There's a chance the treatment will make her lose her hair, which for any girl is a part of her identity, and even more heartbreaking is the possibility that chemo could affect her ability to have children in the future.

The news was a shock not just to her, but to everyone who loves her. Ella's always dreamed of one day becoming a mother. The thought that cancer and its treatment might take that away feels like an unimaginable loss. Ella has chosen not to dwell on what might be taken away from her but instead on what she can still fight for.

Her courage shines through every day, even on the days when the fear and uncertainty feel overwhelming. She has found a way to stay hopeful, leaning on the love of her family and friends who are right by her side, every step of the way. There are still moments when the magnitude of it all hits her—the surgery, the chemo, the idea that her life has changed in an instant—but she's determined to face this with the same grace and perseverance she's brought to every challenge in her life.

For Ella, this is more than just a fight against cancer. It's about being optimistic, even in the face of something as frightening as cancer. It's about believing that her future still holds the dreams she's always had, even if the path to them looks different now. She knows that there will be hard days ahead, but she also knows that she's not alone. And with her strong heart and the support of those around her, she's ready to face whatever comes next.

This GoFundMe supports her and her family in costs they will endure such as cold capping (in hopes that she can keep her hair), fertility treatment (in hopes that she can still have kids one day), another semester of school (so that she can still carry out her dreams), and any other costs that may come along. No donation is too small, everything helps!

Update: Since the chemo can age your ovaries and damage your eggs, Ella underwent fertility treatments to freeze her eggs. Unfortunately the first round was not successful and she ended up with 0 mature eggs. Her chemo had to be postponed a few weeks so she could try the fertility treatment one more time. Luckily the second round was much more successful and she now has 8 mature eggs frozen and ready to use in the future! Because fertility treatments and medications are so expensive, she has already maxed out on her lifetime insurance coverage. So any future drug costs or medical costs associated with fertilizing the eggs or transferring the embryos will not be covered.

Ella had her first chemo treatment on November 18 and it did not go as planned. She had a bad allergic reaction to the taxol and was only able to receive a small portion of the dose. But she was able to get the full dose of carboplatin - so that was good! Luckily Ella’s doctor was able to switch her to a different type of Taxol that, with a lot of steroids, she is tolerating and able to receive weekly. For the most part Ella is tolerating her chemo well. She has had to postpone treatment a couple times due to low blood counts. But she is now over half way through with her chemo treatments!

Ella is cold capping during her chemo treatments to try and prevent hair loss. The cold capping is pretty uncomfortable and causes bad headaches, but it seems to be working well so far. Ella’s hair is thinning, but she still has almost a full head of hair. Hopefully that will be the case for the rest of her treatments. Unfortunately the cold capping is pretty expensive not covered by insurance. So this go fund me will definitely help with those costs.

Ella continues to be strong and optimistic. Despite the bad side effects, she is actually happy every time she get a chemo treatment because is means that she to is closer to a cure and closer to being able to return to college.

Please say prayers and send good vibes that she is continues to tolerate the chemo and that it results in a permanent cure for her. ❤️