Fund Diane - Calling all Angels
Help give Diane her life back...
In January of this year, Diane had a 9.5 pound tumour removed from her abdomen. The team of surgeons also removed the main artery in her right leg and replaced it with donor veins from her left arm and leg. They also shaved off part of her bladder and used other tissue to rebuild her abdomen… All of this was caused by a very rare form of carcinoma.
Five days after being released from the hospital into assisted care living (June 2017), Diane fell and broke her ‘bad’ leg so severely that a bone specialist was required to perform the complicated surgery. She has been either in the hospital or rehabilitation care ever since.
Due to the cancer, trauma to her body and surgery, Diane now suffers from severe lymphodema—a condition that she will have to endure for the rest of her life. The lymphatic fluid is a protein rich fluid that is causing her immense pain and discomfort. Left untreated, it will calcify around her body’s joints, rendering them immobile.
The lymphodema has reached such an extreme level that she is no longer able to lift her own legs due to their excessive weight. She is VERY uncomfortable and is showing signs of calcification in her joints.
There is treatment! She can get the lymphodema under control with lymphatic massage therapy and compression garments. Once the lymphodema is under control, it can be maintained with specialized medical equipment using pneumatic compression therapy. The quote for the equipment alone is $10,300. The compression wrap and lymphatic therapy costs are thousands more.
Fundraising is our last resort. We've looked high and low for emergency funding to help Diane--there is nothing available.
Diane is only sixty-four years old and has a small disability pension. Due to her lengthy medical journey, all financial reserves are long gone. She has a daughter who is a single mother, and grandchildren that really need her. With treatment, Diane can still have a good quality of life in assisted care living.
Without treatment, the lymphodema will cripple Diane and destroy her life.
Only a month ago, Diane was walking. She was doing well in rehabilitation care and was successfully rebuilding her strength.
This treatment and medical equipment is critical to her health and wellbeing and is the ONLY way she will be able to return home.
Please help us give Diane her life back... She desperately needs this treatment, now! The fluid build-up is so severe... I'm afraid for my friend. We really are calling all Angels... For funding, and for prayers.
INFO REQUIRED BY THE GOFUNDME TEAM...
About Me
My name is Kelly Hewkin and I live in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. I met Diane Raphael years ago at a workshop in Vancouver. We became fast friends and have been soul-sisters ever since. We've laughed and cried and have shared many adventures together.
In May of 2017, Diane and I were talking on the phone, and in the quietest voice, she said "I need help". I quickly became aware of the depth of her situation and just desperate it had become. She truly needed help in every area of her life.
About This Fundraiser
During surgery, many of Diane's lymph nodes have been removed making it difficult for her body to expel excess fluid. She has gone from a size 12/14 to a size 20/22. It is uncomfortable, painful and creates many other complications--and, left untreated, it WILL cripple her permanently. To make it even worse, she is left vulnerable to secondary infections at all times.
The 'Calling All Angels' fundraiser is being used to raise funds to provide Diane with the medical treatment and equipment needed to treat her lymphedema as follows:
1. Lymphatic massage by qualified professionally trained therapists at $1,500 per week (includes GST)
2. Compression garments as determined by a specialist, approx. $3,000 (quote is coming)
3. Pneumatic compression equipment at $10,300
4. Ongoing manual lymphatic massage
Banking and Bookkeeping
The funds gifted to Diane in this fundraiser are transferred to a bank account that has been opened solely for this purpose. Payments for massage and medical equipment are made by eTransfer or credit card. All donations and expenses in and out of this account are recorded in a QuickBooks accounting program. This account is reconcilled monthly.
Photo: Diane and Scooby-doo (three days before she broke her 'bad' leg)
