Vicki Owens Fights Pancreatic Cancer
Donation protected
Following is a letter from Vicki Owens about her journey. I am Mom. I am her support. I would trade places if I could. Vicki is a loving, giving woman who has fought all her life to get ahead and when she finally is, this pancreatic cancer tries to bring her down again.
We are having difficulty covering the out-of-pocket costs for travel to doctors, chemo treatments, tests, surgeons and medicines insurance will not cover. She also has a car payment and her youngest son who has just left home is trying to make it on his own. He's 18 and Vicki is now not able to afford his trade school tuition.
Vicki spends 5 hours every other Monday on IV getting chemo and then goes home with a pump attached for two days that continues to deliver more chemo. We go back to the cancer center on Wednesday to have the pump removed. This is an effort to shrink the tumor away from the major blood vessels so that surgery can be performed to remove the tumor.
Think Shrink! Vicki needs this 12 weeks of chemo to shrink the tumor so surgery is a viable option.
Think Shrink! Vicki needs your help financially, your prayers and your best wishes.
Think Shrink! Vicki is fighting very hard to beat this cancer, please help her with her fight. And now, the letter from Vicki. . . .
Hi my name is Vicki Owens, and I am a resident of the Verde Valley in Arizona. I am 48 years old and my last son is flying the coop and moving out of state with his girlfriend. I have been single over 15 years and still have hopes the right man will be here someday.
I have always been a person who helps others. It may be just a large smile, or giving everything I have to make something work to help another. I have not been perfect my whole life or been raised in a perfect home; yet, I am a loving, giving and kind human being that is now in desperate need of help myself.
The last few years my health has been really going downhill. Even more so this past year. I have had such fatigue in my life and pain in my back. I drive taxi for a living, graveyards, so I attributed that to the job and old age. I wasn’t feeling good one week, and me loving my job, I just kept going until I finally had to give in and take a break. It wasn’t the flu or food poisoning as there were no other signs other than my tummy hurt. So thinking I had a UTI, I went to urgent care to get a urinalysis test to see about the blood in my urine, as well. Thankfully, the doctor there saw my biliruben levels were high and referred me to the ER at VVMC.
I get admitted here and after more tests, scans and ultrasounds…I am transferred to FMC by ambulance to a room. The next day, the doctors let me know my bile duct has an obstruction and my gallbladder is bad and needs to come out. As well as placing a stint put into my bile duct to keep it open. Once in there, they would observe and test to see what else is going on.
Unfortunately, 2 days later during a surgical biopsy, it was confirmed, I have Stage 3 Pancreatic adenocarcenoma. It has started to matasticise into 3 lymph nodes. I also became Type 1 Diabetic overnight because of the large mass on my pancreatic head that not only was closing the bile duct but was preventing the pancreas from making insulin.
I am now through chemo treatment number 2…yay! I have 4 good days and 8 ok days and 2 days of the worst days of my life. I am a fighter and I do not own this cancer. It will shrink and I will get my Whipple procedure done so that I may live to see my grandbabies and travel the USA fishing with my dawg.
Unfortunately, I have no money in savings or set aside for the costs of travel and medications and all the extras needed to live halfway comfortably. Like I really need hand warmers as gloves don’t do it and the one side effect is my hands get tingly and hurt. They cost money I do not have and I drive taxi so I am unable to work right now. Having to travel 200 or more miles a week for doctors and labs and meds…it’s causing me grief to be able to provide these costs. I have applied for social security; yet, I am awaiting their decisions. Unfortunately, what they are able to financially provide for my bills will barely leave me with a tank of gas.
I am asking for any small or large donations to help get me better and to have one less thing to stress about so I can use that energy to heal and survive. If you are unable to help financially, I totally understand that….PLEASE share this link and say lots of prayers as we are thinking shrink!
#THINKSHRINK
Thank you all for you time and donations and prayers. You all mean a lot to me… I love you all! Vicki
We are having difficulty covering the out-of-pocket costs for travel to doctors, chemo treatments, tests, surgeons and medicines insurance will not cover. She also has a car payment and her youngest son who has just left home is trying to make it on his own. He's 18 and Vicki is now not able to afford his trade school tuition.
Vicki spends 5 hours every other Monday on IV getting chemo and then goes home with a pump attached for two days that continues to deliver more chemo. We go back to the cancer center on Wednesday to have the pump removed. This is an effort to shrink the tumor away from the major blood vessels so that surgery can be performed to remove the tumor.
Think Shrink! Vicki needs this 12 weeks of chemo to shrink the tumor so surgery is a viable option.
Think Shrink! Vicki needs your help financially, your prayers and your best wishes.
Think Shrink! Vicki is fighting very hard to beat this cancer, please help her with her fight. And now, the letter from Vicki. . . .
Hi my name is Vicki Owens, and I am a resident of the Verde Valley in Arizona. I am 48 years old and my last son is flying the coop and moving out of state with his girlfriend. I have been single over 15 years and still have hopes the right man will be here someday.
I have always been a person who helps others. It may be just a large smile, or giving everything I have to make something work to help another. I have not been perfect my whole life or been raised in a perfect home; yet, I am a loving, giving and kind human being that is now in desperate need of help myself.
The last few years my health has been really going downhill. Even more so this past year. I have had such fatigue in my life and pain in my back. I drive taxi for a living, graveyards, so I attributed that to the job and old age. I wasn’t feeling good one week, and me loving my job, I just kept going until I finally had to give in and take a break. It wasn’t the flu or food poisoning as there were no other signs other than my tummy hurt. So thinking I had a UTI, I went to urgent care to get a urinalysis test to see about the blood in my urine, as well. Thankfully, the doctor there saw my biliruben levels were high and referred me to the ER at VVMC.
I get admitted here and after more tests, scans and ultrasounds…I am transferred to FMC by ambulance to a room. The next day, the doctors let me know my bile duct has an obstruction and my gallbladder is bad and needs to come out. As well as placing a stint put into my bile duct to keep it open. Once in there, they would observe and test to see what else is going on.
Unfortunately, 2 days later during a surgical biopsy, it was confirmed, I have Stage 3 Pancreatic adenocarcenoma. It has started to matasticise into 3 lymph nodes. I also became Type 1 Diabetic overnight because of the large mass on my pancreatic head that not only was closing the bile duct but was preventing the pancreas from making insulin.
I am now through chemo treatment number 2…yay! I have 4 good days and 8 ok days and 2 days of the worst days of my life. I am a fighter and I do not own this cancer. It will shrink and I will get my Whipple procedure done so that I may live to see my grandbabies and travel the USA fishing with my dawg.
Unfortunately, I have no money in savings or set aside for the costs of travel and medications and all the extras needed to live halfway comfortably. Like I really need hand warmers as gloves don’t do it and the one side effect is my hands get tingly and hurt. They cost money I do not have and I drive taxi so I am unable to work right now. Having to travel 200 or more miles a week for doctors and labs and meds…it’s causing me grief to be able to provide these costs. I have applied for social security; yet, I am awaiting their decisions. Unfortunately, what they are able to financially provide for my bills will barely leave me with a tank of gas.
I am asking for any small or large donations to help get me better and to have one less thing to stress about so I can use that energy to heal and survive. If you are unable to help financially, I totally understand that….PLEASE share this link and say lots of prayers as we are thinking shrink!
#THINKSHRINK
Thank you all for you time and donations and prayers. You all mean a lot to me… I love you all! Vicki
Co-organizers (2)
Lois ( Plute ) Johnson
Organizer
Rimrock, AZ
Vicki Owens
Co-organizer