Support for the Cordin Family
Donation protected
As you may already know, Cecily had a lump in her breast biopsied in November, and heartbreakingly, it came back as positive for melanoma on the eve of Children's Day, the Winter solstice. Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer, and a simple internet search will tell you that this means that the cancer has spread, immediately putting it at stage 4 melanoma. Shortly after Christmas, Cecily developed intestinal issues that sent her to emergency two days in a row, which ended up being a blockage that required surgery. On January 1st they learned that there was cancer in her lungs, adrenal gland, and intestines.
Following this, Cecily struggled with debilitating pain, and pain management was a serious challenge, leaving her pale and withdrawn; these were very difficult times for the family. A new drug for nerve pain finally brought some relief, however, shortly after, Cecily started to show neurological symptoms - speaking gibberish and mixing up her words. Two more trips to emergency and they discovered that six metastases had grown in her brain within a three week span, and one of them had a bleed. She was admitted to the hospital and began daily radiation on her brain to reduce the risk of additional bleeds to allow time for the new gene specific cancer meds she started to begin working. She left the hospital a week later and did remarkably well at home for some time. Her energy was surprisingly good and the meds seemed to be doing their magic as the tumour in her back and breast quickly disappeared. Even when she lost her hair, she remained upbeat.
The next stage in her treatment was to begin immunotherapy, which works with the patient's immune system to fight the cancer. Many people are getting to the point of NED - No Evidence of Disease - after a year or two on immunotherapy, and this became the goal for Cecily’s treatment. She had to be weaned off of steroids and some of the pain meds she was on, which left her fatigued and she began to experience some other symptoms, including a dry and persistent cough. They updated her scans, with mixed results; many of her tumours had shrunk, but a couple of them grew and there were also new ones, most concerning in her lungs and near her heart. Since then, Cecily has been battling issues associated with a build up of fluid in her lungs, which requires a chest tube for drainage and multiple trips to the hospital. Despite all of this, she started immunotherapy in early May. She has been very low energy since, and recently was readmitted to the hospital with an irregular heart rate of 180, potentially a result of a tumour pressing on her heart. Her heart rate is being managed with medication, and they switched her from dilaudid to morphine for pain, which has resulted in less confusion and better pain management. The hope is that she will be able to go home in the coming days once arrangements can be made for at home support.
This has all been very intense; each stage over the past five months has come with its own level of intensity, and hit when everyone was still reeling from the last stage. All of this began just weeks after Cecily’s 36th birthday, which was the age that her mother was when she died of breast cancer, when Cecily was the same age that their daughter Jess is now - Jess, who is incredibly bright, but still too young to understand what is happening. Since sharing the news of Cecily’s diagnosis, the outpouring of love and support from family, friends, neighbours, clients, and acquaintances has been truly overwhelming and heart warming.
Throughout everything, Jenn and Cecily have hesitated to ask for financial support; they felt they were doing okay financially, and so many people have already been so generous with food, with time, with care, and with donations. Jenn was able to continue to work part time, though she definitely misses Cecily's role as partner in their dog walking and dog food business. More recently, with the provincial lockdown and Jess no longer in preschool, Jen has taken some time off of work. They were enrolled in a family pharmacare program that covers the majority of the costs for the most expensive drugs, but it doesn’t cover all of her medications. There are also additional costs for alternative treatments that they are pursuing for Cecily, including amazing support from a Naturopath and Osteopath, and they are beginning to feel financial pressures. There have been so many offers and inquiries about supporting the family, and so we have set up this campaign to help ease any financial burdens as they continue to face this overwhelming challenge as a family.
Following this, Cecily struggled with debilitating pain, and pain management was a serious challenge, leaving her pale and withdrawn; these were very difficult times for the family. A new drug for nerve pain finally brought some relief, however, shortly after, Cecily started to show neurological symptoms - speaking gibberish and mixing up her words. Two more trips to emergency and they discovered that six metastases had grown in her brain within a three week span, and one of them had a bleed. She was admitted to the hospital and began daily radiation on her brain to reduce the risk of additional bleeds to allow time for the new gene specific cancer meds she started to begin working. She left the hospital a week later and did remarkably well at home for some time. Her energy was surprisingly good and the meds seemed to be doing their magic as the tumour in her back and breast quickly disappeared. Even when she lost her hair, she remained upbeat.
The next stage in her treatment was to begin immunotherapy, which works with the patient's immune system to fight the cancer. Many people are getting to the point of NED - No Evidence of Disease - after a year or two on immunotherapy, and this became the goal for Cecily’s treatment. She had to be weaned off of steroids and some of the pain meds she was on, which left her fatigued and she began to experience some other symptoms, including a dry and persistent cough. They updated her scans, with mixed results; many of her tumours had shrunk, but a couple of them grew and there were also new ones, most concerning in her lungs and near her heart. Since then, Cecily has been battling issues associated with a build up of fluid in her lungs, which requires a chest tube for drainage and multiple trips to the hospital. Despite all of this, she started immunotherapy in early May. She has been very low energy since, and recently was readmitted to the hospital with an irregular heart rate of 180, potentially a result of a tumour pressing on her heart. Her heart rate is being managed with medication, and they switched her from dilaudid to morphine for pain, which has resulted in less confusion and better pain management. The hope is that she will be able to go home in the coming days once arrangements can be made for at home support.
This has all been very intense; each stage over the past five months has come with its own level of intensity, and hit when everyone was still reeling from the last stage. All of this began just weeks after Cecily’s 36th birthday, which was the age that her mother was when she died of breast cancer, when Cecily was the same age that their daughter Jess is now - Jess, who is incredibly bright, but still too young to understand what is happening. Since sharing the news of Cecily’s diagnosis, the outpouring of love and support from family, friends, neighbours, clients, and acquaintances has been truly overwhelming and heart warming.
Throughout everything, Jenn and Cecily have hesitated to ask for financial support; they felt they were doing okay financially, and so many people have already been so generous with food, with time, with care, and with donations. Jenn was able to continue to work part time, though she definitely misses Cecily's role as partner in their dog walking and dog food business. More recently, with the provincial lockdown and Jess no longer in preschool, Jen has taken some time off of work. They were enrolled in a family pharmacare program that covers the majority of the costs for the most expensive drugs, but it doesn’t cover all of her medications. There are also additional costs for alternative treatments that they are pursuing for Cecily, including amazing support from a Naturopath and Osteopath, and they are beginning to feel financial pressures. There have been so many offers and inquiries about supporting the family, and so we have set up this campaign to help ease any financial burdens as they continue to face this overwhelming challenge as a family.
Organizer and beneficiary
Lesley Farrow
Organizer
Halifax, NS
Jennifer Cordin
Beneficiary