Support for Nina Pak Lui's cancer journey
Donation protected
Dear family, friends, and colleagues of Nina,
A couple of weeks ago, Nina began to experience some cognitive challenges, such as word-finding and reading comprehension difficulties. Her doctor encouraged her to rest to see if it would subside, but it worsened and then headaches began to accompany these symptoms. Various close friends and medical contacts urged her to seek immediate medical attention at that point. A brain scan just a couple of days ago has revealed a mass that requires surgical removal.
This is nerve-wracking news for all of us who care deeply for her, but we are also grateful that it was identified quickly and that she's receiving excellent medical care. No further details about the mass or her prognosis are available at this time, but the upcoming surgery will offer more information. Nina wanted to share the latest, a piece of good news, that her full body CT scan shows that no other masses have been found and it is isolated to her brain. We will continue to update this page as we know more.
In the meantime, we want to support Nina, Jason, and their fabulous kids Yuna and Jonah, during this difficult process of her surgery and recovery. Donations to this fund will go toward help around their house (meals and cleaning services), counseling support, and whatever else Nina's recovery may require.
Anyone who knows Nina knows that thinking, speaking, reading and writing are key to her incredible work as a professor at TWU's School of Education, and her research as a PhD student at UBC. So of course she is processing sadness about this news, and her need to pause all work at this time. But at the same time she is feeling peaceful and positive about moving forward with the procedure, and processing each step of her recovery day by day.
When I saw her at the hospital today and took some notes to communicate to you all, this is what she wanted to share:
- She's feeling so thankful for her family and close friends who are supporting her through this.
- She's also thankful for the meaningful work that she does, and the joy she gets in caring for people and supporting them in their growth and service to others.
- She's ready to fight through the challenges ahead with all that she's got, and also grateful to have this time to focus on rest and recovery.
- She wants everyone, including her students and her own kids, to continue with their daily learning and growth to the best of their abilities.
- She's most comfortable taking each day as it comes, with the information and expertise available to her, without feeling the need to jump to overly positive or overly negative conclusions about future outcomes.
Please feel free to add your supportive thoughts and encouragement to this GoFundMe page, and communicate any other questions or comments directly to me or Jason, as opposed to Nina, as she's not able to field messages coming in to her during this time.
We will also set up a Meal Train link shortly.
Thank you again in advance. Your support for Nina and her family is much-appreciated! We will continue to keep you updated here.
Organizer and beneficiary
Julie Frizzo-Barker
Organizer
Surrey, BC
Jason Lui
Beneficiary