Uri's Cervical Cancer Battle - Stage 3B - Surgery

Hi,

My name is Uri Garcia and I'm 32 years old, from Naples, Florida now living in Sweden. For the past 2 1/2 years now I have battled against a very aggressive strain of Cervical Cancer called Squamos Carcionoma of the cervix.

In short, I have now been given 6-12 months to live unless I have a life saving surgery within the next two weeks here in Sweden. Since I'm not a citizen yet they charge me as an International Patient despite me having a Swedish husband and us now going thru the immigration process. In the U.S the multiple Oncology Teams that treated me had exhausted all options available over there. Going to Sweden and Finland were my only options left. I now need to Prepay 815,000 Swedish Crowns which is roughly 93,500 USD in the next two weeks in order for the complete Pelvic Exoneration/Radical Histerectomy  to be performed on me.

I was diagnosed in April of 2019 with 2 tumours in the Cervix each 11cm (4.5 inches) in diameter size. Since the tumours were so large and growing quickly they were deemed inoperable, and my only option at the time was to try to apply for external Radiology and Chemotherapy to try to stop the growth and spread which was already a Stage 3 at that time.

Being uninsured, I was finally after 8 weeks able to obtain a wellfare insurance under Molina Insurance in Florida. This was a blessing that saved my life at the time since the cancer kept growing during the time I tried to obtain the insurance coverage for the external radiation and chemotherapy. I underwent these treatments during the fall of 2019 and it halted the spread of the cancer but the size of the tumours were only marginally smaller.

The Doctors took the decision for me to undergo an intense internal radiation form called Brachy Therapy in order to try and get these tumours down below 4 centimers in diameter so that a surgery would be viable. The treatment was very painful and traumatizing (read Brachy Therapy) but it did shrink the tumours although it burnt a hole (Vesico vaginal fistula) in my bladder which has left me incontinent.

At this point of my battle I was very thankful to the medical team from Florida Cancer Specialists for saving my life, where I had otherwise been given 6 months to live with those two large fast growing tumours. I was almost declared in remission and although I was still battling the internal constant pain that the radiation had caused I was just so thankful to be alive.

My excitement was however short lived, since the cancer returned in mid 2020 and I had to start a new round of Chemotherapy after again getting these costs covered by the Molina Insurance. I underwent the difficult Chemotherapy treatment during 4 months and at the beginning of 2021 there was again no malignant activity in my body. The Doctors in Naples Florida recommended me to undergo a complete pelvic exoneration and radical hysterectomy to have the best chance of survival since my type of cancer is malignant, recurring and spreads quickly when active .

We were on course to do the surgery on April 6th of 2021 but the Doctor Team in the end backed out since they noticed some undefined activity in the pelvic floor. It was extremely disappointing, and the Doctor whose name I will leave out of this story broke the news to me in a rather brutal and insensitive way that I would at best have 1 year to live even with further Chemotherapy, which was the end of the line treatments available together with palliative care. So in Florida, which is the only State in the USA where Molina Insurance would have covered my treatments we had reached the end of all available options. My husband and I could not accept this outcome and just give in to this horrific reality and we started to contact Advanced Cancer Centers around the world.

We received news from the Docrates Clinic in Helsinki, Finland that they would be willing to take me on as a patient for an experimental treatment named Keytruda which has had some success of curing my type of cancer mutation. We saw this as our only remaining option and were willing to spend all our savings towards this possibility of a cure.

Once in Finland my wonderful Doctor studied my case, had me undergo scans and prescribed the Keytruda treatment. Just before my first treatment and the latest CT miraculously showed that I was again inactive and a potentially good candidate for the pelvic exoneration/radical hysterectomy. The Finnish Doctor referred my case over the Sweden to Karolinska University Hospital, the Chief Surgeon at one of the most advanced Cancer Care Clinics in Northern Europe. We had to pay for all these treatments in Europe from our Savings and we have to date exhausted the total of $35,000 USD which we had before going over to Europe. We are still here and the surgical team has scheduled me for the Life Saving Surgery pelvic exoneration/radical hysterectomy within the next two weeks time in the middle of September.

They only accept Prepayment, as I'm a U.S Citizen and not covered under the Swedish or EU Healthcare system despite being married to my husband and just having started the 10 month immigration process to Sweden. The Invoice that I received yesterday is for 815,000 SEK, which is just over $93,500USD and includes the 10-14 hour complete surgery, ICU for one night and 21 days/nights at the hospital. If there are complications the invoice includes a 250,000SEK Security Deposit in case I require additional time in ICU and additional hospital nights.

I have attached the invoice with this fund raise so that you can read it yourselves. I'm so very thankful to the brave Swedish Doctor Team that will save my life through this difficult, extensive surgery, which they will only perform if they receive the Prepayment of the funds mentioned above and in this raise.

I have never done any type of GoFundMe Campaign before and am not sure what result it can bring but for the peace of my heart that I tried everything in my power to survive I thought I would try this way of funding as well.

It's very strange that a 2 1/2 year Cancer battle is now decided through this short open time window that the Medical Team have to perform this surgery on me. If they wait even for a few weeks the cancer will most likely have spread to other parts of my body and from there I will only have 6 short months left to live.

I'm very tired and exhausted from all this mental and physical ongoing battle and uncertainty and I dream of one day starting my life here in Sweden as an English as a Second Language Teacher or a Caregiver for people in my situation. I hope and pray everyday that I will be so fortunate. The next two weeks will be vital for that dream to still be alive. Maybe then, my husband and I can adopt a child down the road, should we be so fortunate to get through this horrific 2 1/2 year ongoing nightmare.

If you read this far, I'm beyond thankful for your compassion and for listening to my story. If nothing else it could maybe help and inspire others out there never to accept very negative news and always try to find other options and solutions even in the darkest of days.

With Love,

Urania Garcia