In June of 2022, Tiana was living a happy and fulfilling life in Charleston, SC with her fiancé Tommy and small fur family. She and Tommy were married on June 11th and celebrated one of the happiest moments of their lives with their families and closest friends. Two weeks following the wedding, Tiana fell ill, unable to eat or drink for multiple days. She was rushed to the Roper St. Francis Emergency Room in Charleston where she stayed for over a week enduring countless tests and multiple procedures to alleviate her unbelievable discomfort and diagnose her symptoms. On Wednesday, June 29th, Tiana and her family received the earth shattering news that she was diagnosed with extremely rare Stage IV Mucinous Adenocarcinoma Appendiceal Cancer at age 30, which to this day is incurable.

What was supposed to be the happiest time of Tiana and Tommy's lives was now turned upside down and converted into a rush to assemble a team of specialists to help try to save her life. Tiana and Tommy had to cancel their much anticipated honeymoon, and change their travel plans to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City due to the rareness of Appendiceal Cancer and lack of specialists nationwide. The couple had also planned to begin starting a family soon after the wedding, but were advised that this may not ever be possible. Dreadful news was being broken day after day without a break.

Tiana’s Biggest Challenge

Tiana and her family traveled to New York to begin her chemotherapy treatment plan at a Sloan Kettering satellite hospital in early July. After arriving at the hospital and vitals being drawn, she was rushed by ambulance into New York City to the main emergency room of MSK due to her declining condition. She was given her first treatment of chemotherapy via IV on the oncology floor, which she explicitly remembers as a burning sensation. Things took a turn for the worst when Tiana experienced a toxic reaction to the chemotherapy - developing a severe infection and life-threatening sepsis. 

Tiana was moved into the ICU where her family was told she would most likely not survive to the end of the week based on the extent of the sepsis. Beloved friends and family were advised of the news and traveled to NYC to visit Tiana and say their final goodbyes. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle; with the help of her MSK team and visiting loved ones, Tiana’s body miraculously began healing!

This presented Tiana with her next challenge - to attempt a second altered round of chemotherapy that could possibly kill her or live life as comfortably as possible for her remaining months without treatment. She and her family decided to fight and take a chance on the second round of chemo and she handled it well! Tiana was able to return to a hematology floor the following week, and was later released from the hospital after her month-long stay. Her team of doctors and surgeons are still in awe to this day.

Every Little Bit Helps

Tiana is extremely blessed with supportive family and friends that help in any way they can. Her family stayed in hotels and traveled by train into NYC daily during her 32 day hospital stay, spending all possible visiting hours with her. After taking months to recover from her hospital stay in NY and receiving biweekly chemotherapy treatments, Tiana is close to her final local treatment before her next hurdle.

This February, Tiana is scheduled for “The Mother of all Surgeries”, an invasive HIPEC operation that can take up to 16 hours but gives Tiana the chance to achieve remission in her courageous fight. Tiana has remained positive and hopeful throughout her cancer journey but is still left with insurance/medical bills for multiple hospital stays and surgeries, travel expenses for ongoing out of state appointments, medication and chemotherapy costs.

Tiana’s circle has set up this GoFund Me to directly assist her and her family with the massive costs that have accumulated during her fight. With her ongoing treatments, Tiana has been unable to work, so the financial burden has amassed quickly. While any little bit will help, if you are unable to help financially, please keep Tiana in your thoughts as she continues the battle of her life.