Tracy Zerr's Cancer Journey and a Call for Help

Stacey Adams and Hope Weiskopf would like to share our friend Tracy Zerr's cancer journey and how you can help the Zerr's cover 14 weeks of treatment costs. 100% of the funds donated here will be give to Tracy to help her cover this new treatment which is not covered by insurance. Please read the following letter from Tracy and help us share this fundraiser and please donate what you can.

Hi, it's me Tracy Zerr. I have been on a medical journey since I was first diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma ( Bone Marrow Cancer) on July 2, 2022. There is no cure for this cancer, but it is normally well controlled with therapies. They initially thought I had a herniated disc, but soon realized through an MRI that I had tumors on my thoracic spine and left hip. I underwent surgery to remove the tumors and my diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma was confirmed at that time. I underwent radiation to my left hip, which now has a titanium rod through my femur, and to my thoracic spine, which also has a lot of hardware.

I started chemotherapy Sept, 12, 2022 and it initially worked quite well getting my cancer numbers down. In April of 2023 I was set to get a stem cell transplant which usually gives patients 7 years of remission. I unfortunately had a metastasis to my left breast which stopped me from getting a Stem Cell transplant. I underwent a very intense 5 day inpatient chemotherapy regimen, which killed the tumors, but left me with a very weak immune system. In October, a new tumor around my kidney was found and I underwent another 5 days intense chemo.

At this point they did a new bone marrow aspirate and it showed my cancer had mutated and now I was a high risk multiple myeloma patient. Because of my high risk status, I was enrolled into a promising therapy called Car T cell therapy. Many of the patients who receive this are in remission for three years or more. I did quite well through this therapy and ended up without evidence of disease when it was completed in December 2023. What a great Christmas present! It was amazing to feel good again, but unfortunately 3 months later on March 11th, my cancer numbers had risen and showed that I had relapsed. I seem to do well with treatments, but am unable to stay in remission. My cancer is not nice and is constantly mutating. It is scary. My immune systems is low due to all of the treatment. This lowered immune system has kept me from being able to work as a nurse since April 2023, which has really been difficult to give up.

I have met with my Fred Hutch Oncologist and there is really no more they can do for me. Eric and I have researched a place in Scottsdale, Arizona (Envita) that works on Stage 4 cancers and pushes to rejuvenate your own immune system and uses genetics to target the cancer to keep it from coming back. They work hard to detoxify your body, pump up your immune system and look at the genetics of your cancer to find the best treatment for you, They call this process "individualized fractional chemotherapy" and they only give you about 5% of the chemotherapy dose you'd get at Cancer Centers and end up with much better results. We will be there for approximately 14 weeks.

Unfortunately, this treatment is not covered by insurance and that is why we are reaching out via Go Fund Me. I have made a lot of changes in my life. I am eating a whole foods plant based diet, decreased my stress and am exercising as much as possible. I am fighting hard for as much time as I can get to see my family grow up and I believe that if I can get my immune systems back up and running, that I can beat this disease. I will try to keep everyone updated as this journey goes along, I drive in Arizona April 10th.

Love to you all,

Tracy