Laura Memorial and Medical Fund
Donation protected
On the week of July 7th 2013 Laura was diagnosed with a stage 4 malignant brain tumor on the back of her brain. For the past two and a half years she went through extensive radiation and chemo therapy at the Toledo Clinic, then on to the Cleveland Clinic. Every 3 months she would go to Cleveland for a MRI and a follow up appointment with her oncologist. All seemed to be going very well until this past August. In August she went for her MRI and appointment with her oncologist. She was told we have good news, and bad news. The good news was the tumor she had shrunk and was nearly gone. The bad news was she had a new tumor on the frontal lobe of her brain and it was pretty good sized. They determined it was stage 4 glioblastoma. It is the most aggressive form of brain cancer there is.
The Cleveland Clinic told her that the tumor board would review her case and let her know what course of action they recommended. They came back a week later and told her that with this particular tumor and its location she was a candidate for a new form of laser surgery they do there to remove it. They said this was the best option for her and recommended she do it ASAP. So the first week of August she was scheduled to have the surgery, and they were very optimistic about the success. She was told they never have had a issue with this surgery. She was told that maybe a 4 day hospital stay at most and she would be able to go home and go about her normal life. Of course with some follow up chemo just to be sure. So she agreed to do it.
After the surgery we were told by the surgeon that he was 99.9% sure that he got all of the tumor, but she had bleeding in her brain. They had to keep her in the hospital for 2 weeks to stop it and to be sure that the bleeding was contained. Once they had that under control they said she would have to be sent to a rehab facility for a while for rehab. So she was transported from Cleveland to a rehab facility close to her home in Temperance, MI. She was there for 3 weeks and never really regained her speech, or was able to do much, not even eat on her own without help. Nor was she able to walk. The poor woman had nothing but complications after the surgery.
One day we received a call saying that she was being transported to a local hospital because she had Pneumonia, her sodium levels were very high, and she was suffering from severe dehydration. The local hospital put her in their ICU for a evening but they are not a big hospital and really did not specialize in neurology. They thought it could be mini seizures caused by the dried blood, but they were just not sure. So they recommended that we have her transported her to one of the biggest hospitals in the city (Toledo Hosptial) that specializes in neurology. So that is what they did, at midnight she was transported by ambulance to this facility. Long story but she was in the neuro ICU for almost a week, then went down the hall to a step down room. The doctors all told us that there was dried blood still in her brain and they really can not see behind it to see if a new tumor has started to grow because she had not had her follow up chemo yet because she was just to week. The doctors say dried blood could have beeen causing this state she was in. Not speaking or being able to eat on her own. They did have to put a feeding tube in her so she got nourishment. The doctors said every person is different. Some people their body absorbs the dried blood in days, some it takes weeks, some it takes months. They told us some will come out of it with no complications, some will have some, others will never totally come out of it.
Well on September 30th they discharged her from the hospital and sent her to another rehab facility/nursing home. One that would accept patients who have a feeding tube. She was there for nearly a month. While she was there saldy her health continued to decline. She got to the point that her body could no longer keep the food down she was being fed through the tube. The nursing home scheduled a PET scan to see if the cancer had spread because had it not they were going to try to get her in to a experimental treatment program at Wayne State University. Sadly the PET scan results were not good. She had a 11 new tumors in the front of her brain. Probably caused from the lack of follow up chemo treatments. We were more or less told there was really nothing else they could do for her. We even contacted a tumor expert at Cedar Sinai Medical Center, out in Los Angeles. He more or less told us the same thing. He said even if the new tumors could be treated, she would never come out of the state she was in.
Well because of the lack of being able to keep food down, and becusae her body was starting to shut down, our family the extremely tough decision to put her in to Hospice care. That was not a easy decision. She was there for over 5 days and fought so very hard to hang on, right until the very end. Even the Hospice nurses were suprised at how hard she fought. She was a very strong willed woman with a very positive attitude and wanted so bad to live.
Sadly Laura lost her battle on November 1, 2015. She passed away surrounded by her loving family. She will be forever missed by her family and all that she touched. Our lives will never be the same without her. She was one of the most kind hearted people, a angel, and a gift to all of us
As all of you know medical cost can get very high. So far her medical bills are in excess of a half a million dollars! The insurance did pick up a portion of it but Laura had so many co pays to pay out, its astronomical. So now all donations will go to her loving husband Daniel, to help him cover some of the cost. He did everything he could to try to save her, we all did! As before since the start of this campaign all donations will go in to a special account managed by Daniel and will be used strictly to help pay for Laura`s medical expensises.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
Daniel, Michael, and Matthew
The Cleveland Clinic told her that the tumor board would review her case and let her know what course of action they recommended. They came back a week later and told her that with this particular tumor and its location she was a candidate for a new form of laser surgery they do there to remove it. They said this was the best option for her and recommended she do it ASAP. So the first week of August she was scheduled to have the surgery, and they were very optimistic about the success. She was told they never have had a issue with this surgery. She was told that maybe a 4 day hospital stay at most and she would be able to go home and go about her normal life. Of course with some follow up chemo just to be sure. So she agreed to do it.
After the surgery we were told by the surgeon that he was 99.9% sure that he got all of the tumor, but she had bleeding in her brain. They had to keep her in the hospital for 2 weeks to stop it and to be sure that the bleeding was contained. Once they had that under control they said she would have to be sent to a rehab facility for a while for rehab. So she was transported from Cleveland to a rehab facility close to her home in Temperance, MI. She was there for 3 weeks and never really regained her speech, or was able to do much, not even eat on her own without help. Nor was she able to walk. The poor woman had nothing but complications after the surgery.
One day we received a call saying that she was being transported to a local hospital because she had Pneumonia, her sodium levels were very high, and she was suffering from severe dehydration. The local hospital put her in their ICU for a evening but they are not a big hospital and really did not specialize in neurology. They thought it could be mini seizures caused by the dried blood, but they were just not sure. So they recommended that we have her transported her to one of the biggest hospitals in the city (Toledo Hosptial) that specializes in neurology. So that is what they did, at midnight she was transported by ambulance to this facility. Long story but she was in the neuro ICU for almost a week, then went down the hall to a step down room. The doctors all told us that there was dried blood still in her brain and they really can not see behind it to see if a new tumor has started to grow because she had not had her follow up chemo yet because she was just to week. The doctors say dried blood could have beeen causing this state she was in. Not speaking or being able to eat on her own. They did have to put a feeding tube in her so she got nourishment. The doctors said every person is different. Some people their body absorbs the dried blood in days, some it takes weeks, some it takes months. They told us some will come out of it with no complications, some will have some, others will never totally come out of it.
Well on September 30th they discharged her from the hospital and sent her to another rehab facility/nursing home. One that would accept patients who have a feeding tube. She was there for nearly a month. While she was there saldy her health continued to decline. She got to the point that her body could no longer keep the food down she was being fed through the tube. The nursing home scheduled a PET scan to see if the cancer had spread because had it not they were going to try to get her in to a experimental treatment program at Wayne State University. Sadly the PET scan results were not good. She had a 11 new tumors in the front of her brain. Probably caused from the lack of follow up chemo treatments. We were more or less told there was really nothing else they could do for her. We even contacted a tumor expert at Cedar Sinai Medical Center, out in Los Angeles. He more or less told us the same thing. He said even if the new tumors could be treated, she would never come out of the state she was in.
Well because of the lack of being able to keep food down, and becusae her body was starting to shut down, our family the extremely tough decision to put her in to Hospice care. That was not a easy decision. She was there for over 5 days and fought so very hard to hang on, right until the very end. Even the Hospice nurses were suprised at how hard she fought. She was a very strong willed woman with a very positive attitude and wanted so bad to live.
Sadly Laura lost her battle on November 1, 2015. She passed away surrounded by her loving family. She will be forever missed by her family and all that she touched. Our lives will never be the same without her. She was one of the most kind hearted people, a angel, and a gift to all of us
As all of you know medical cost can get very high. So far her medical bills are in excess of a half a million dollars! The insurance did pick up a portion of it but Laura had so many co pays to pay out, its astronomical. So now all donations will go to her loving husband Daniel, to help him cover some of the cost. He did everything he could to try to save her, we all did! As before since the start of this campaign all donations will go in to a special account managed by Daniel and will be used strictly to help pay for Laura`s medical expensises.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
Daniel, Michael, and Matthew
Organizer and beneficiary
Mike Trzcinski
Organizer
Temperance, MI
Daniel Trzcinski
Beneficiary
