Fighting on Her Knees
Donation protected
Stacy Zimpfer’s fight with illness began 23 years ago when she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, which was managed through medication and allowed her to live a relatively normal life. In 2014 she was diagnosed with Smoldering Myeloma, which has continually been monitored. In 2017 she started having extreme muscle fatigue throughout her body, which progressed to the point of causing her to retire early because she could no longer do the nursing job she loved. Many tests, scans and biopsies were performed, but she was left without a diagnosis.
Stacy continued to get worse and eventually suffered from cardiac arrest in October, 2018 while driving. By God’s grace, her husband, Wally, was able to safely stop the car and perform CPR. The combination of CPR and the use of an AED that was onsite saved her life. Stacy was immediately rushed to the local hospital, where a new team of doctors was able to asses her condition and accurately diagnose her with AL Amyloidosis of her heart and small vessels throughout her body.
After much research, we decided to begin treatment in Boston at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where they have one of the best Cardiac Amyloidosis specialists in the country. Stacy started weekly chemotherapy (CyBorD) over a period of 11 weeks in November, 2018. Her blood counts (free light chains) came down from 1,000 to 250, but plateaued at 250. As a result, the doctors decided to change her treatment plan to a different type of chemotherapy.
Stacy started Daratumumab (Dara) in February, 2019. After only one treatment, her numbers dropped significantly from 250 to 38. At this level, Stacy is near remission. When she traveled to Boston for her second treatment of Dara, her doctor informed her that her insurance denied paying for treatment. Stacy and Wally along with the doctor have appealed this three times, but have been denied each time. The doctor even informed the insurance company of the severity of the situation and that Dara is the only life-saving treatment available because her heart condition makes her ineligible for other treatments. The cost of each treatment is $20,000 and she needs ten immediately over the next three months and ongoing maintenance treatments once a month indefinitely.
Unfortunately, Stacy has been without treatments for two weeks hoping the situation with the insurance company would be resolved. At this point, it does not look like it will be resolved. So, the only way for Stacy to receive the needed life-saving treatment of Dara is to pay out of pocket at the cost of $20,000 per treatment. We started this GoFundMe account in hopes of raising money to afford as much treatment as possible. Any amount would be greatly appreciated.
In addition, our family also needs prayer. We believe we serve a mighty God and our faith, trust and hope is in Him.
We love each and every one of you!
Stacy continued to get worse and eventually suffered from cardiac arrest in October, 2018 while driving. By God’s grace, her husband, Wally, was able to safely stop the car and perform CPR. The combination of CPR and the use of an AED that was onsite saved her life. Stacy was immediately rushed to the local hospital, where a new team of doctors was able to asses her condition and accurately diagnose her with AL Amyloidosis of her heart and small vessels throughout her body.
After much research, we decided to begin treatment in Boston at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where they have one of the best Cardiac Amyloidosis specialists in the country. Stacy started weekly chemotherapy (CyBorD) over a period of 11 weeks in November, 2018. Her blood counts (free light chains) came down from 1,000 to 250, but plateaued at 250. As a result, the doctors decided to change her treatment plan to a different type of chemotherapy.
Stacy started Daratumumab (Dara) in February, 2019. After only one treatment, her numbers dropped significantly from 250 to 38. At this level, Stacy is near remission. When she traveled to Boston for her second treatment of Dara, her doctor informed her that her insurance denied paying for treatment. Stacy and Wally along with the doctor have appealed this three times, but have been denied each time. The doctor even informed the insurance company of the severity of the situation and that Dara is the only life-saving treatment available because her heart condition makes her ineligible for other treatments. The cost of each treatment is $20,000 and she needs ten immediately over the next three months and ongoing maintenance treatments once a month indefinitely.
Unfortunately, Stacy has been without treatments for two weeks hoping the situation with the insurance company would be resolved. At this point, it does not look like it will be resolved. So, the only way for Stacy to receive the needed life-saving treatment of Dara is to pay out of pocket at the cost of $20,000 per treatment. We started this GoFundMe account in hopes of raising money to afford as much treatment as possible. Any amount would be greatly appreciated.
In addition, our family also needs prayer. We believe we serve a mighty God and our faith, trust and hope is in Him.
We love each and every one of you!
Organizer and beneficiary
Marc-Jen Palmieri
Organizer
Hellertown, PA
Warren Zimpfer
Beneficiary
