The Tracy Maloney Cancer Fight Fund
Donation protected
I am Michael, the father of three beautiful boys: Kris - 16, Mason - 13 and Larz - 3 I am writing to you all for support, love, prayers and financial assistance because Tracy, my Fiancée, the love of my life and mother of my children, has an aggressive form of Stomach Cancer and we need to help her fight this!!
As most of you know, to say "Tracy is a Fighter" would be a gross understatement. As a child she spent much of her years in different foster homes; many of which showed no compassion, provided very little care and no protection. Unfortunately, there was even abuse. The foster system definitely failed her, as did the education system, by allowing her to drop out of school by the age of 16.
I regularly remind the love of my life how amazed I am that, despite being raised by “wolves”, somehow she became the most honest, loyal and loving woman I could ever dream of meeting and is a nurturing, spirited and dedicated mother to the boys.
We, like many who have battled before her, naturally ask, why her? Why has a beautiful and vibrant 36 year old woman been dealt the stomach cancer card? We of course do not have the answer, but our faith tells us that there is a life lesson in this journey.
As I said earlier, Tracy is a fighter. Not only did she rise above a bad childhood, but at every turn in her life she has had this inner strength, no matter how bad things got, to push through, sometimes working 3-4 jobs to make it all work. When told about the cancer, and after the tears were freshly wiped, she quickly said "I don't want anyone throwing me a pity party and I am going to kick cancer’s ass"!!
Our journey started right before New Year's when an angel by the name of Norina Manassy (Tracy's Physician's Assistant) questioned why she was on a heavy anti-nausea medication (Zofran) for 2 years. She ordered an endoscopy and we received the urgent call soon thereafter to come in ASAP and review the results. A CAT Scan, another Endoscopy with Ultrasound and a PET Scan all followed, confirming that Tracy had an aggressive form of stomach cancer that went through the wall of her stomach and into her muscle.
We are blessed to have an entire team from Viewmont Henry Cancer Center working on her case, but the downside is that the facility is about an hour away.
The treatment plan started Monday, January 23rd, when Tracy underwent laparoscopic surgery to clean out some of the area in preparation for a future surgery and take more biopsies. Luckily, the biopsies showed no additional cancer in the stomach. That same day they made an incision in her chest and inserted a main line port for her chemo treatments.
The plan of attack is 3 months of chemo, then surgery to remove half or more of her stomach, followed by three more months of chemo. The oncologist had advised her that it is highly likely she will lose her hair, so she is weighing cutting it in advance. The surgeon said it was also likely that a feeding tube would be needed.
As if this was all not surreal enough, she then learned that the chemo would basically destroy our chances of adding to our family. While an incredible organization offered to pay $25k plus to extract and freeze her eggs, we turned it down as we could not risk stalling treatment to harvest the eggs. Any hesitation in treatment could allow the cancer to spread elsewhere and that was a risk we were not willing to take.
We realize that with all this happening, we will need some help to afford additional costs, including but not limited to, bi-weekly rides to the cancer center; second opinions; wigs or other hair options, such as making a wig from her shaved hair; new clothes, as she is expected to lose a lot of weight; sitters when we can't make it back in time for the kids; cleaning help, as the house needs to be very sterile; health costs not covered by insurance; a medical or select comfort bed to ease the strain of getting out of bed while she rebuilds her stomach strength; etc.
She has cancer on the ropes now after undergoing several treatments. There are some spots on her uterus, lungs and esophagus that need to be biopsied but she is a warrior queen now! Any money left over will be used to either adopt or foster children and/or to expand our tiny house. Please only give what you can; any amount is a blessing to make her and our Journey easier! We are truly Powered by Hope, prayer and the love and support from family and friends. We know each of you have your own struggles. Please let us know how we may help you.
Help spread the word!
As most of you know, to say "Tracy is a Fighter" would be a gross understatement. As a child she spent much of her years in different foster homes; many of which showed no compassion, provided very little care and no protection. Unfortunately, there was even abuse. The foster system definitely failed her, as did the education system, by allowing her to drop out of school by the age of 16.
I regularly remind the love of my life how amazed I am that, despite being raised by “wolves”, somehow she became the most honest, loyal and loving woman I could ever dream of meeting and is a nurturing, spirited and dedicated mother to the boys.
We, like many who have battled before her, naturally ask, why her? Why has a beautiful and vibrant 36 year old woman been dealt the stomach cancer card? We of course do not have the answer, but our faith tells us that there is a life lesson in this journey.
As I said earlier, Tracy is a fighter. Not only did she rise above a bad childhood, but at every turn in her life she has had this inner strength, no matter how bad things got, to push through, sometimes working 3-4 jobs to make it all work. When told about the cancer, and after the tears were freshly wiped, she quickly said "I don't want anyone throwing me a pity party and I am going to kick cancer’s ass"!!
Our journey started right before New Year's when an angel by the name of Norina Manassy (Tracy's Physician's Assistant) questioned why she was on a heavy anti-nausea medication (Zofran) for 2 years. She ordered an endoscopy and we received the urgent call soon thereafter to come in ASAP and review the results. A CAT Scan, another Endoscopy with Ultrasound and a PET Scan all followed, confirming that Tracy had an aggressive form of stomach cancer that went through the wall of her stomach and into her muscle.
We are blessed to have an entire team from Viewmont Henry Cancer Center working on her case, but the downside is that the facility is about an hour away.
The treatment plan started Monday, January 23rd, when Tracy underwent laparoscopic surgery to clean out some of the area in preparation for a future surgery and take more biopsies. Luckily, the biopsies showed no additional cancer in the stomach. That same day they made an incision in her chest and inserted a main line port for her chemo treatments.
The plan of attack is 3 months of chemo, then surgery to remove half or more of her stomach, followed by three more months of chemo. The oncologist had advised her that it is highly likely she will lose her hair, so she is weighing cutting it in advance. The surgeon said it was also likely that a feeding tube would be needed.
As if this was all not surreal enough, she then learned that the chemo would basically destroy our chances of adding to our family. While an incredible organization offered to pay $25k plus to extract and freeze her eggs, we turned it down as we could not risk stalling treatment to harvest the eggs. Any hesitation in treatment could allow the cancer to spread elsewhere and that was a risk we were not willing to take.
We realize that with all this happening, we will need some help to afford additional costs, including but not limited to, bi-weekly rides to the cancer center; second opinions; wigs or other hair options, such as making a wig from her shaved hair; new clothes, as she is expected to lose a lot of weight; sitters when we can't make it back in time for the kids; cleaning help, as the house needs to be very sterile; health costs not covered by insurance; a medical or select comfort bed to ease the strain of getting out of bed while she rebuilds her stomach strength; etc.
She has cancer on the ropes now after undergoing several treatments. There are some spots on her uterus, lungs and esophagus that need to be biopsied but she is a warrior queen now! Any money left over will be used to either adopt or foster children and/or to expand our tiny house. Please only give what you can; any amount is a blessing to make her and our Journey easier! We are truly Powered by Hope, prayer and the love and support from family and friends. We know each of you have your own struggles. Please let us know how we may help you.
Help spread the word!
Organizer
Michael Larssen
Organizer
Hawley, PA