Andrea's Cancer Journey

December 30, 2023:

Hello! I'm Genevieve, Andrea Cabe's sister. I am setting up this GoFundMe for my sister to help her and her family with her medical and household bills.

You might have heard Andrea has ovarian cancer. As with the majority of ovarian cancer cases, her diagnosis came a little later in the game. By the time it was discovered that she has ovarian cancer, it was found to have already spread to her colon. She underwent her first chemotherapy treatment on September 29, 2023, and has kept a schedule of chemo every 21 days since.

It was decided between Andrea, her doctors, and her employer that she would not work until after she was finished with chemo, as Andrea works in child care. If you know her, you know that caring for babies has always been her PASSION. It truly brings her joy. These last months away from "her babies" has been very hard on her. But with the chemotherapy greatly weakening her immune system, it is a risk she cannot take. Also, chemotherapy is incredibly taxing on the body, making it hard to maintain steady employment with an entire week being wiped out every time she goes in for a treatment.

Her initial treatment plan was to have 3 to 4 chemo treatments, then surgery to remove the tumors, followed by 3 more chemo treatments. Her surgery was on December 18, 2023. Very soon after the surgery began, her doctor came to us in the waiting room and explained that when they began her surgery, they found that her cancer had spread more than they had been able to see with the many CT scans and ultrasounds. He explained that he was not able to remove any of the cancerous tumors as the removal would have been vastly more expansive than the surgical team had previously believed. It would significantly diminish her quality of life. Thus, a new plan of attack was formed.

Following this discovery, her doctor decided that the only way to approach treatment moving forward for Andrea was to continue chemo for the time being, then to hopefully start immunotherapy. He thinks she is a good candidate for it, and feels that if her biopsies come back indicative that she is a candidate, that will be the right treatment path for her. We are very hopeful that it will be.

That being said, these new discoveries and this new treatment plan means that we do not know when Andrea will be able to return to work. It has been difficult for her family to make ends meet in the last 4 months with their household income cut in half.

It is well known that our beloved Andrea is a giant softy and will take in any and every stray she encounters, human or otherwise. I would like to call on those of us she has cared for to return the favor. If you're able, your donation will help her pay for her medical bills and living expenses during this challenging season of her life. Even with insurance, these bills have been accumulating. The target is just a number, as anything provided is welcome, even if it's $1. Any help with bills will help reduce the financial strain they have been experiencing.

Thank you for reading this. Please keep Andrea in your thoughts and prayers.