Support Victoria Lucio's Battle with Cushing's Disease

Help Support Our Family’s Journey Through Cushing's Disease

Hello, my name is Marcus Lucio, and I want to share my experience with how our family has been profoundly impacted by my wife Victoria’s recent diagnosis of Cushing's disease.

Watching Victoria navigate this journey the past 8-9 years has been heartbreaking. Some days, we see glimpses of the loving, caring, and gentle mother and partner she truly is. Other days, her debilitating symptoms hold her back from being the person she longs to be. Despite these challenges, Victoria tirelessly provides emotional and relational love to our young boys and I, giving us her all, even when she’s feeling unwell.

Victoria dreams of thriving and living fully, but right now, she is focused on surviving each day. I believe that once we overcome this disease, she will not only reclaim her life but also make a lasting impact on everyone around her. Our boys will feel her love tenfold, and the world will benefit from the compassion she has to offer.

This is just a glimpse of what my experience has been on the outside, but I will never know the true struggles that Victoria has had to face, so she is sharing her story in her own words as well.

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Hello, my name is Victoria Lucio, and I am a 32-year-old stay-at-home mother of two wonderful boys, ages 5 and 2. I am an alumna of Texas Tech University from Amarillo, TX. For the past 8-9 years, I have been silently battling Cushing's disease caused by a pituitary tumor that has slowly progressed. This condition has significantly impacted my life and my family's well-being, stealing precious moments and joy from our everyday lives.

During these years, I faced numerous doctors who dismissed my concerns, leaving me feeling frustrated and unheard. It was a long and traumatic journey where I had to essentially diagnose myself and seek out a specialist for this rare disease—one that is unfortunately not covered by insurance.

Now, as I prepare for brain surgery to remove the tumor, I am hopeful for a healthier future, but the road ahead is daunting. If the surgery is successful, I will face another challenge: Adrenal Insufficiency, a life-threatening condition that we will need to learn to manage. Additionally, Cushing's tumors often grow back, and surgeries can fail, so my primary goal is to achieve remission for as long as possible. This uncertainty brings lifelong anxiety as I wait to see if the tumor returns.

Our family is currently living paycheck to paycheck on a single income, largely because this disease has taken away my ability to work part-time while I care for my boys full-time, which takes every ounce of the small amount of energy I have to give. We have been struggling financially even before this diagnosis, especially due to my husband having to stay home many days to care for my children and I, so we need all the support we can get.

The surgery will require us to travel to MD Anderson in Houston, TX for at least a week, and the costs of medical supplies, recovery items, out-of-pocket appointments, medications, copays, and aftercare related to other medical ailments caused by this disease are more than we can handle, and this is just the beginning of a long journey of medical care I will need. Thanks to NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders), we’ve received significant assistance with surgery itself and most of travel (not including our kids' plane tickets), but there are still considerable financial burdens we need to address.

We are reaching out for help to alleviate some of these costs during this challenging time. Your support would not only help cover medical expenses for surgery and the long road of recovery ahead but also provide some peace of mind as I focus on healing and being there for my boys.

Every donation, no matter how small, makes a difference and brings us one step closer to a healthier future. Thank you for considering supporting our family during this difficult journey. Your kindness means the world to us.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Victoria Lucio