To know my dear friend Rossana is to know a woman with the biggest zest for life, passion for travel, music & dance, super health conscious, hard-working, optimistic, goal oriented, and one of the most determined people I know. She is someone who loves to help others but forgets too many times to ask for help. This fundraiser has been created to help Rossana cover the enormous medical bills, recovery costs and other expenses she has incurred during treatments while not currently working.

With your support, we hope this new and arduous chapter in Rossana’s life will be filled with love and remembered as a time when friends, family and kind-hearted souls helped her through this challenging time.

After living 17 years in Los Angeles, Rossana and her husband finally moved back to Northern California in March 2021 to be closer to her family. She remembers there being a lot of excitement with the new apartment, training at the new job and getting comfortable in the new neighborhood. However, towards the end of the year, she started to notice feeling increasingly sluggish but attributed it to the many changes since the move.

By the next year, she started to notice weight loss, a tiredness she could never get over and other digestive symptoms. This prompted a visit to her primary physician, then referred to a Gastrointestinal doctor. On May 23, she had her first colonoscopy at 48 years old and then waited nervously for the results. She thought maybe she had irritable bowel syndrome. But on May 25th, she received the phone call that changed her life in an instant. Rossana was devastated and in disbelief when she was told she had rectal cancer. She kept thinking, “but I have no history of cancer in my family” “what did I do wrong?” She remembers hanging up the phone and sitting there frozen for about an hour. She began to think of all the things she still wanted to accomplish, places she wanted to travel to and do together with her husband. Rossana then pulled herself together, wiped her tears, canceled her patients for the day and began to do research on how to beat this.

After multiple exams, from CT scans to ultrasounds, an MRI and a PET scan, it was discovered that cancer had spread to her rectal nodes, left external iliac node and her right lung, where two low-density nodules were found. Rossana had appointments with each member of her medical group and it was recommended that the best course of treatment for her stage IV diagnosis was radiation followed by chemotherapy and lastly, surgery. Rossana began her journey in the latter part of June 2022, beginning with 5 days of radiation and a port placement in preparation for the Chemotherapy. She is currently still in treatment, feeling hopeful and trying her best to stay positive.

There’s no way to prepare for a life-altering illness like cancer, but with your support, the burden can be lightened. If you are inclined and able to help, please know that it is greatly appreciated. I will be keeping you all updated on Rossana’s journey. Thank you all so much for your time and your support.