Sammi Ward and Family Medical Fund
Donation protected
Nearly 6 years ago our daughter Sammi's life changed forever when she had a brain tumor biopsied from her brainstem. Thankfully the tumor was shown to be non-cancerous and slow growing Pilocytic Astrocytoma. Pilocytic Astrocytoma is a very rare (1 in 100,000) tumor that occurs most often in children and young adults under 20 years old. The recovery from that surgery has taken a very long time and we were all very hopeful that she was "out of the woods" at least for another 10 years due to the fact that this tumor is of slow growing nature. Over the past years Sammi has had regular MRI's that have either shown the tumor to have no to very little change.
Sammi decided to have two children, blessing our family with a little grandson and granddaughter!!! They are truly the loves of her life. She is a very good, loving, caring, and nurturing mother to both of her children, and they love her SO much! Carter (1 1/2) and Kiara (1 month) are miracles in themself because the survival rate is very low for a tumor that is connected to the brainstem.
Fast forward to two weeks ago.....Sammi had her annual MRI, which was scheduled for after Kiara was born. The day after the MRI was completed and read, one of her doctors called with news that set the "terror wheels" in motion once again. The information was very vague, which made all of our anxiety levels go through the roof. What changes would warrant a medical team to meet, and numerous appointments to be scheduled with The Montana Cancer Center and a neurosurgeon? What is the emergency? Why can't we be told anything except for she needs to be seen immediately?
Sammi had her 2nd appointment yesterday with the neurosurgeon and we finally got the grave news. Though the tumor has been growing very slowly, it now is growing into her brainstem not just attached to it. This is why things have been moved from the just watch and wait to the need for another possible short term solution to a life long battle. The tumor board will meet within the month to help guide our family with the best course of action. Chemotherapy will not help her because there is no drug out there that is effective on a tumor in the brainstem. Radiation seems to also be off the table, again because of the placement and the negative consequences that will occur from this line of treatment. So that brings about the only other course of treatment.....brain surgery :( Many of you know what changes and hardships that surgery has caused Sammi. The doctors made us aware yesterday that this next surgery will be much harder on her, causing more negative side effects than the past surgery. Sammi's survival rate is lessened due to this being a second surgery and being inside of brainstem and not just attached. Unfortunately she is a different person today then she was prior to her surgery, but now the stakes are higher with having two little ones.
We will begin the process of bringing Sammi from Missoula to Seattle, WA for many upcoming appointments over the next few months, with surgery not too far over the horizon.
A few months ago Sammi was in an unfortunate accident that totalled our family vehicle. We only had limited liability insurance so we were unable to replace our vehicle. Thankfully Sammi and unborn Kiara were virtually unharmed!
So on to why we are in need of this gofundme. Some of the monetary problems we face are that we are in need of replacing our family vehicle, due to the accident. Also we are in need of assistance with the financial burden that many multiple trips to and from Seattle, WA will cause our already financially strapped family.
With my eyes full of tears, due to the uncertain future that lies ahead......I want to thank everyone for your kind thoughts, words, prayers, and any help you could send our way. We made it through this once, and we are gonna fight to make it through again! We thank you all so very much!
The Wards
A few requests have come in for our mailing address, so here it is:
Samantha Ward
4405 Buttercup Lane
Missoula, MT 59802
Sammi decided to have two children, blessing our family with a little grandson and granddaughter!!! They are truly the loves of her life. She is a very good, loving, caring, and nurturing mother to both of her children, and they love her SO much! Carter (1 1/2) and Kiara (1 month) are miracles in themself because the survival rate is very low for a tumor that is connected to the brainstem.
Fast forward to two weeks ago.....Sammi had her annual MRI, which was scheduled for after Kiara was born. The day after the MRI was completed and read, one of her doctors called with news that set the "terror wheels" in motion once again. The information was very vague, which made all of our anxiety levels go through the roof. What changes would warrant a medical team to meet, and numerous appointments to be scheduled with The Montana Cancer Center and a neurosurgeon? What is the emergency? Why can't we be told anything except for she needs to be seen immediately?
Sammi had her 2nd appointment yesterday with the neurosurgeon and we finally got the grave news. Though the tumor has been growing very slowly, it now is growing into her brainstem not just attached to it. This is why things have been moved from the just watch and wait to the need for another possible short term solution to a life long battle. The tumor board will meet within the month to help guide our family with the best course of action. Chemotherapy will not help her because there is no drug out there that is effective on a tumor in the brainstem. Radiation seems to also be off the table, again because of the placement and the negative consequences that will occur from this line of treatment. So that brings about the only other course of treatment.....brain surgery :( Many of you know what changes and hardships that surgery has caused Sammi. The doctors made us aware yesterday that this next surgery will be much harder on her, causing more negative side effects than the past surgery. Sammi's survival rate is lessened due to this being a second surgery and being inside of brainstem and not just attached. Unfortunately she is a different person today then she was prior to her surgery, but now the stakes are higher with having two little ones.
We will begin the process of bringing Sammi from Missoula to Seattle, WA for many upcoming appointments over the next few months, with surgery not too far over the horizon.
A few months ago Sammi was in an unfortunate accident that totalled our family vehicle. We only had limited liability insurance so we were unable to replace our vehicle. Thankfully Sammi and unborn Kiara were virtually unharmed!
So on to why we are in need of this gofundme. Some of the monetary problems we face are that we are in need of replacing our family vehicle, due to the accident. Also we are in need of assistance with the financial burden that many multiple trips to and from Seattle, WA will cause our already financially strapped family.
With my eyes full of tears, due to the uncertain future that lies ahead......I want to thank everyone for your kind thoughts, words, prayers, and any help you could send our way. We made it through this once, and we are gonna fight to make it through again! We thank you all so very much!
The Wards
A few requests have come in for our mailing address, so here it is:
Samantha Ward
4405 Buttercup Lane
Missoula, MT 59802
Organizer
Jason Ward
Organizer
Missoula, MT
