Help Judy Beat Lymphoma

Everyone who knows Judy Martinelli, knows she is a kind, caring, generous person who gives herself selflessly to any and all people she comes in contact with. She is an amazing mother, grandmother, sister, volunteer and friend. Judy was first diagnosed with non-follicular, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2009. This was a non-aggressive type and did not require any treatment. She has now developed a more aggressive type of Lymphoma called Double Hit Lymphoma, a more rare type of the cancer. This will require chemotherapy and lumbar punctures to try and beat this disease, which she has already begun, and started July 5. The prognosis is not as good as we hoped, however, there are some new treatments recently approved by the FDA that we are hopeful she will be a candidate for. This type of treatment is extremely costly. 

 The level of aggressiveness of this cancer is more difficult to treat, therefore requiring more time in the hospital, and a lot of medical expenses. 

Judy was offered a job the day she was diagnosed, and had to decline the offer in order to fight this battle, so now she is without any income. She was so excited to start this new chapter in her life, working with patients like herself on a daily basis, and being the kind nurturer that she is, this job was perfect for her. 

Judy always takes care of everyone else and does not know any different. However, God has a new plan for her, though we do not know what it is just yet. We have to do everything we can to take care of her now and help her through the difficult obstacles ahead. One of the largest burdens for her are the financial implications that come with this.

In order to fight this, she needs 6 rounds of chemo coupled with lumbar punctures, ending with a stem cell transplant. These treatments occur every 21 days and require lengthy hospital stays with each round.  If you can imagine, the cost is astronomical. 

She will have several appointments a week, days when she is very weak and exhausted, and the side effects of the treatment will be hard to combat. 

We are raising funds for 2 primary reasons:

1. In essence, Judy will be out of work for 6 months+. The last thing we want Judy worrying about is the financial toll this will have on her and her future. We want her to focus on fighting this cancer and being healthy.

2. While Judy has health insurance through a Cobra plan from her previous employer, It is extremely expensive (not to mention it has an out of pocket of over 11k) and that does not count the cost of the plan every month. Also many of the medicines that Judy is being prescribed have extremely high co-pays and she is taking a lot of them.

Thank you in advance for your generosity in helping Judy beat this disease, so she can focus on her treatment and getting well.