Walk Alongside Keena

Hi, my name is Amy and I'm reaching out on behalf of my dear friend and co-worker Keena.

She recently had to have part of her kidney removed due to a cancerous

tumor. What she thought would be a straightforward and trouble free procedure turned out to be the beginning what will be the fight of her life. To the shock and dismay of the surgeon (and Keena), the pathology results came back showing Upper Track Urothelial Carcinoma. That is a very rare and extremely aggressive form of cancer. She will have another surgery that's scheduled in November to remove the rest of her kidney and urethra. A biopsy of her lymph nodes will also be done at this time. This will determine if and where it has spread. She must have the surgery before she is able to have chemotherapy due to the amount of swelling the chemo will cause. The swelling will render the removal of her organs impossible.

She will have to endure three six-week rounds of an intense and aggresive chemo. Tolerating treatment with only one kidney will present challenges and cause additional stress to her body.

Due to the intensity of the chemo, the side effects will be debilitating and will keep her unwell moving forward.

She has run out of FMLA and PTO (Paid time off ) from the first surgery and is fearful she may lose her job. She already had to use all her alloted FMLA time for the year. She has exhausted all the benefits that the Cleveland Clinic affords. If she is denied a medical leave of absence (which is a possibility) she will have to pay out of pocket for her health insurance on top of all the mounting medical bills and living expenses.

Keena is always upbeat, singing and so fun to be around. She has the best sense of humor. She's an amazing mom to her three daughters, son and their spouses/significant others, the best grandma to her beloved grandkids and a great friend to all.

If you would be kind enough to please donate as she embarks on the most important battle of her life. No amount is too small and would be greatly appreciated.

If you're employed at Cleveland Clinic and have extra paid time off please consider donating to her. Again, any number of hours will help lift the financial burden.

Lastly, it would be so kind if you could please share this link.

Your generousity and compassion is appreciated more than you'll ever know. Let's show Keena she doesn't have to go through this all alone.

Please keep her in your prayers.

Thank you.