My name is Frank Pulcini, and I have decided to start up a GoFundMe page after hearing about one of my co-workers, Amber Barbour, story with Cancer. Any donation amount is gladly appreciated and will be going directly to her medical expenses. If you want to donate to help with medical and other ongoing bills or even just a share, know that your generosity is greatly appreciated!

 

Ambers Story:

On August 30, 2021, I woke up and felt a very small lump under my left jaw that just felt off. I made an appointment on the first week of September and met with Kaiser to get it checked out. The doctor told me it was a swollen lymph node and it should go down in a few weeks. She prescribed antibiotics and told me not to worry. After taking the antibiotics for a week, it started to grow bigger. So I decided to get a second opinion over at Kaiser. They did a CT scan and biopsy which later confirmed it wasn’t a swollen lymph node, it is a rare cancer called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma and I needed to schedule surgery.

 

The surgery was around 7 hours long and the doctor ended up removing 67 lymph nodes and two nerves. One nerve controls the bottom left lip so it affects my smile and the other nerve that controls feeling and taste on the left side of the tongue. They ended up putting in two nerve grafts in hopes that they grow back. Pathology confirmed I had a 75% solid which meant it was very aggressive. By October 2021, the tumor had grown to 4cms. After 6 weeks of recovery, I had to do 30 radiation treatments. I couldn’t eat or swallow anything during this time without numbing my mouth.

 

In March 2022, I met with my head and neck surgeon who said everything looked great and to move forward doing an MRI and CT scan. The head and neck MRI results were clear, but the CT scan showed 10 lung nodules and three nodules in the tumor. Kaiser sent a biopsy of the tumor and confirmed it was the same cancer. I met with UCSF (under self-pay) and met with a doctor who studies Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. After reviewing my medical records, he advised me to get genome sequence testing which is a test for mutations to treat. He stated he believed I would have the Notch Mutation and if I did he would expect my life expectancy to be 2-3 years if I went on a targeted drug.

 

On June 14th, Kaiser confirmed that I have one possible treatable mutation. I decided to go to an Immunity Therapy Center in Tijuana, Mexico to do alternative treatments for 3-4 weeks so I can build up my immune system to prepare for the upcoming battles I will face. I am currently working and doing treatments while I am here but I am struggling with the finances to pay off my treatments. If Mexico is unsuccessful then I plan to go to a doctor in CA for Brachytherapy to implant radiation seeds in my liver and lung to kill the tumors. If I do this the out-of-pocket cost is around $40k-$50k since Kaiser will not cover this procedure.