My Sister's medical fund

Nicki is not only the best Sister I could ask for, but also a loving wife and a proud and wonderful mother of her beautiful baby girl Addison. She is a deeply compassionate and loving person to all friends, family and whoever she meets. She is truly a beautiful person, inside and out. She has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor, it is a low grade 2 glioma located in the left L2 area of her brain and in the middle of the speech and motor areas. This came as quite a blow as she has already been through so much these last few years. She has a genetic blood clotting disorder that make general health more difficult, a ovarian cyst and endometriosis removed in 2007, a high risk birth with many doctor visits and shots of blood thinner every day for almost a full year in 2010, a back surgery for a disc fusion in her neck, another back surgery for a damaged disc in her lower back in 2012, a partial hysterectomy in 2013 and then the diagnosis of the brain tumor.

Nicki started to have some headaches and went in to the doctor to try and find the cause of them. On a whim the doctor decided to do a CT scan to just check for anything abnormal but was not thinking they would find anything. Later in the day after the scan we got a call that they saw something on the scan and would like her to go in for a MRI to get a better idea of what they were seeing. After that MRI she was not more than 5 mins from the hospital when she got the call to come back into the doctor’s office so he could go over the results with her. With tears rolling down her face and shaking she asked the nurse to at least tell her something, the nurse could only tell her they found something and it was not good but they would tell her more once she came in.

Once she talked to the doctor they explained it was a brain tumor and was in a delicate area, so they recommended her to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. As the medical team at Mayo in Eau Claire was unable to operate given the location and complexity of the surgery needed. Once she arrived in Rochester the first surgeon we met would not be able to do the surgery. But after some discussions there was another doctor that specialized in the removal of difficult tumors that could help her. 

This doctor is scheduled to remove the tumor Friday, July 10th at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Dr. Parney is a world class surgeon and one of the top in the world. He has a great record and Mayo Clinic is one of the top neurosciences hospitals in the world. The surgery will be an awake removal with MRI Mapping. The removal is the first part and if we are lucky hopefully the only surgery she will need. Glioma’s do have a high risk of reoccurrence but we are hoping that if we can remove all of this and not need any radiation or chemo that this never comes back, but if it does hopefully medicine will be much better then and there will be non-surgical methods to remove the tumor if that time comes.

With multiple hospital visits to Rochester, the surgery, hotel stays and gas, money has definitely been an area of concern. This should be the last of anyone’s worries when they are facing such a difficult time in their life. That is why I have created this account for my Sister. I want to be able to help alleviate some of the stress once the surgery is done and she is at home recovering. I don’t know what their hospital bills are now and I certainly won’t know after the surgery, as they are not the kind of people to ask for financial support. However, I’m confident this is a good start and I know they will be beyond thankful for what is donated.

Thank you for all the support, prayers and love you have given and shared with my Sister! YOU have helped build her strength, faith and trust through this difficult process.

Also, thank you for taking the time to read this. (Keep the prayers coming!)