Our sister, ANDREA MARIANO LODATO, was diagnosed with aggressive Kidney Cancer on Friday, Feb 21, 2020.  

FYI: This campaign was started in March of this year but GFM recently updated its platform so it now looks like it just began in September.  Rest assured I have the entire list of donors/donations from the beginning til the switchover.

Andrea, 55 years old, had been feeling back pain for several weeks following a fall at the end of December, 2019. When the pain didn’t improve, Andrea went to be checked out. Because there had been a fall, initial thoughts were that muscles were pulled/sprained.  Meds were given but did not help within a reasonable amount of time, so she went to see an ortho. Concerned that there might be a fracture, an MRI was done, which showed a spinal tumor at T-8, which is just below her shoulder blades.


There were a whirlwind few days with more tests, a biopsy and consults.  On February 21st, the Kidney Cancer diagnosis was given.  In addition to the originating mass in the kidney, the cancer had metastasized to the spinal tumor and growths in the lungs.  Immediate attention was needed for the spinal tumor which had been dangerously close to causing paralysis.


Andrea is now facing 2-3 weeks inpatient rehab following the successful tumor removal surgery on February 26th.  Treatments for the cancer itself can begin after rehab is completed.  Doctors have suggested that Andrea will be out of work from 3 weeks to 3 months from the surgery alone.  What’s even more frustrating is that Andrea had literally been hired on as a full-time employee at her new job the day she learned about the tumor on her spine, so she has no PTO or disability benefits. 


Immediate financial concerns include meeting living expenses, rent payments and utility payments.  Andrea’s husband, Dan, has also missed work to be with Andrea through the diagnosis and subsequent spinal procedures.  Medical expenses not covered by deductibles and copays are outstanding as well. 


Please help us help our sister Andrea through what will be the fiercest fight.  The doctors told her that clear cell Kidney Cancer is tricky because there are often no symptoms. She has probably had it for several years without knowing. This type of cancer can also travel to any part of the body at any time and tends to reoccur.  


Funds will go directly into an account opened expressly for Andrea’s expenses. The account will be administered by our older sister Joanne who lives nearby to Andrea, near Nashville, TN. 


Thank you for getting in our corner for this fierce fight for Andrea’s life -- because we’re about to give it all we have and more!

The Mariano Girls .