Support Tammy's Battle against Follicular Lymphoma

Hi everyone, My name is Amanda Jahnke and I am raising money to help my mom, Tammy. First I want to start by thanking you for being here, for reading this and for the support from all of her friends and family the past few months. We are so grateful. On October 17th 2024 my mom Tammy was diagnosed with tFL (transformed Follicular Lymphoma); this is a fast-growing, more aggressive type of non-hodgkin Lymphoma.

On August 5th, 2024; my mother lost her father; the man who taught her all that she knows about motorcycles; (which is so much of who she is today) unexpectedly in a motorcycle VS UTV accident. After the death of her father, my mom spent some time up north and was active; shooting her bow, and carrying some wood (nothing out of the ordinary for her). She also was working at a nursing home as an resident assistant which required a lot of physical activity. When she started experiencing back pain, she thought maybe she strained her back.

In the following weeks, leading into the beginning of September she was complaining of a lot of GI issues. Her doctor prescribed her some antacids and referred her to a gastrointestinal doctor. The GI doctor couldn't schedule her for an endoscopy until the beginning of October. My mom went the entire month of September being able to eat or drink without pain. I remember watching her hold her chest every time she ate or drank something and I remember thinking "something is wrong, maybe it is a stress ulcer." She started to lose some weight but she just attributed that to not eating as much.

Then something changed, on the morning of September 30th 2024 I got a text from my mom saying, "I may be going to the hospital." And I knew she couldn't handle the pain anymore, she couldn't wait another week for the EGD. I was at work but we kept in contact throughout the day. In the evening I got a text saying "You need to call me" and the next text was "I can't believe this is happening." I immediately pulled over and called. I remember the worry in her voice as she said "They said I may have cancer."

My mom had her biopsy the next week, which revealed Follicular Lymphoma, which is a slow growing type on non-hodgkin lymphoma, but hers was a little different. They called hers "tFL" - Transformed Follicular Lymphoma. The "transformed" follicular lymphoma changes it from a slow growing cancer to a rapid and more aggressive type of cancer. She started got her port placed the next week and treatment started two weeks later, Her treatment is R-CHOP which is a chemo regimen and is given every 3 weeks, for 6 rounds and then she will get a PET scan to see how chemo is working. She may need maintenance chemo after it is done since it was such a fast growing cancer.

My mom hasn't been able to work since her symptoms started, she has had to give her motorcycle to the bank to even qualify for disability payments; which she still hasn't received. Any donation would greatly help towards the food she needs to keep her weight up, gas to and from appointments and to help with her monthly bills and medical costs.

She has SO many wonderful people in her corner and she is so blessed to call you her friends and family! Thank you so much for being here and we love you!