Support Sabrina's Battle Against Stage 4 Cancer

On December 28, 2023, Sabrina's hell began. She had been experiencing stomach pain, a loss of appetite, and weight loss. The pain became so unbearable she set off to the ER. A CT showed inflammation, but the doctor insisted it was nothing to worry about and sent her home with instructions to follow up with her primary care physician if it didn't get better.

Instead of following up with her primary care physician, Sabrina was able to go straight to a GI specialist who performed an endoscopy. On March 6, 2024, she received the call with the devastating news that she had stomach cancer. On March 19, 2024, she met with her oncologist to receive her official diagnosis of Stage 4b Adenocarcinoma with Peritoneal Metastasis. Surgery was scheduled a few days later to have the central line (port) put in for her upcoming treatment.

On April 3, 2024, the day after her 47th birthday, Sabrina began a treatment regimen that included chemotherapy (FOLFOX: Fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) and immunotherapy (Nivolumab). The schedule involved treatments every other week. Some medications are administered via shot or IV in the infusion room at the oncology clinic. Afterward, she is sent home with a pump that delivers one of the chemotherapy drugs over the following 46 hours.

Doctors believe this cancer may be linked to a previous cancer Sabrina had as a child, during which she underwent radiation and chemotherapy. The radiation caused lung damage, eventually leading to a diagnosis of restricted lung disease, while one of the chemotherapy drugs damaged her heart, resulting in heart failure years later. Currently, both her heart and lungs function at approximately 50% capacity.

Recent studies have shown that radiation can lead to the development of another form of cancer 20-30 years later. Now, she faces the challenge of fighting cancer once again.

Treatment often comes with a range of side effects, including neuropathy, pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, weakness, extreme fatigue, dehydration, mouth sores, anemia, nausea, digestive issues, fever, chills, brain fog, anxiety, and depression... to name a few.

She powered through 13 treatments, every so often having scans to see progress. After a PET scan on July 23, 2024, there was positive news: the tumor was shrinking, and peritoneal fluid was decreasing! She was referred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN to meet with a specialist about possible surgeries and a HIPEC (hot chemo) procedure. After two days of appointments and tests, she was told she met all the criteria and laparoscopic surgery and HIPEC were set for October 14, 2024. Total stomach removal was scheduled for November.

Unfortunately, the surgery didn’t go as planned. Once the doctor got a better look inside, he found that the cancer had spread all over the peritoneal area and by the colon; the spots are all so small the surgeon compared them to sand or salt, which meant they wouldn’t show up on scans. He completed the HIPEC treatment, hoping the hot chemo would remove these spots, but the surgery for stomach removal was canceled, and she was referred back to her oncologist.

November 5, 2024, her oncologist recommended staying on maintenance chemo and immunotherapy every other week and continuing to repeat scans every so often until spots get big enough to show, then start with harder chemo again. The most devastating news is that with treatments available now, she will never be rid of this cancer and will have to continue treatment indefinitely.

In between treatments, she has a lot of other appointments to try to help with her quality of life. Acupuncture to help with the neuropathy, and a dietitian to help her get all the nutrients she needs with her low appetite. She also goes for fluid infusions that can include iron, potassium, or calcium based on what blood tests reveal she needs to help sustain her. She also does an echocardiogram and bloodwork every few months specifically for her cardio specialist to keep track of how treatments are affecting her heart.

With all of this, loss of income is a real thing. Sabrina is already going through so much and we would like to help ease some of that stress.

If anyone would like to help but is uncomfortable with this platform, you can also mail a donation to her directly. Just connect with the person who sent you this link, and we will give you an address. Thank you for reading!