Support Kendal's Journey to Health and Hope

On April 9th, 2020, Kendal was diagnosed with a rare solid pancreatic tumor. Later that month, she underwent a Whipple procedure to remove 1/2 of the pancreas & tumor (the tumor was in the very middle of her pancreas), gall bladder, upper duodenum, and a portion of the common bile duct which was the start of a long journey.

With having half of her pancreas removed, she had to deal with EPI (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) which was managed with enzymes she liked to call her “eating pills”.

For over 4 years, she has struggled with these pain episodes that were explained as the worst pain she had ever felt. Watching her go through this knowing there was very little you could do to help is so heartbreaking. She underwent several more procedures and surgeries to try and figure out what was going on and also try to alleviate that pain. In the May procedure, they found a pancreas stone, and they also felt that the chronic (later diagnosed as pancreatitis) episodes/attacks are causing the pancreas to shrink. So with the pain and possible shrinking of the pancreas that is left, the talk has moved toward doing a total pancreatectomy with islet autotransplantation. In other words - removing what's left of the pancreas & transplanting the islet cells from it into her liver to hopefully reduce or eliminate the need for insulin. She will always need to take the enzymes for digesting her food when she eats, but at this point, she is not diabetic. Removing the pancreas will change that but there is a possibility that transplanting the cells could delay the need for insulin for years.

Below is a link that better explains the surgery itself.

https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/service/p/pancreas-care/treatments/tpiat

Looking at Kendal, you could never tell that she has been through any of this or still continues to deal with these things (other than the scars). She is a dual sport collegiate athlete studying to become a nurse one day.

With this surgery, there will be a lot of expenses: travel, treatments, follow-ups, etc for the rest of her life. This GoFundMe is dedicated to helping with these expenses for the Rider family as they have to deal with these medical expenses from the past and moving forward.

Thank you for taking the time to read about Kendal's story. More updates will be posted on her caring bridge. Link is down below for that.

https://www.caringbridge.org/site/e58e560c-5fc1-3727-8074-96dbf5a67ec9