Bee Brave For Dani Bee
Donation protected
My name is Trish and I am trying to raise money for my lifelong best friend Dani and her family, as they are extremely stressed about a recent diagnosis of a terminal illness and the financial strain it is causing, especially right before Christmas. It is important for Dani to avoid stress as it causes an immune response, which results in her being extremely ill. I would like to raise enough money to cover all expenses for a few months so Dani does not have to worry and can focus on getting better.
I chose the title Bee Brave For Dani Bee because the day before her diagnosis, Dani and Kade were in the hospital gift shop when Kade found a key chain of a queen bee with the words “Bee Brave”. Kade wanted to come back and buy the keychain for his mom. The next day, a friend gifted Dani with the keychain not even knowing the story. Bee brave has been the motto Dani and her family has used ever since.
As many of you know, Dani had a recent unexpected stay in the Kelowna General Hospital. On October 12, what started out as a trip to the ER for a sudden extremely swollen bump in her stomach, ended up in Dani being admitted into the hospital for 35 days. She was first admitted into the Cardia c unit as is was believed that she may be experiencing angina. After a couple of days Dani was going to be released as they could not find anything further with her heart. After hearing her pleas that something still was not right, she did not feel well and her condition had worsened, the doctor decided to give her a CT scan on her chest to ensure she did not have a blood clot on her lungs. That’s when everything changed…they found a mass in her chest and her lymph nodes were three times the size they should be. Dani was informed that she was going in for a mammogram and a biopsy on her lymph nodes to ensure she did not have cancer. After numerous CT scans, tests, bloodwork, a lymph node biopsy and then a lymph node removal for a biopsy dissection, and two surgeries, her and her family received devastating news: Dani was diagnosed with a very rare deadly illness called Multicentric Castlemans Disease (HHV-8 negative and HIV negative).
Multicentric Castlemans disease is a rare disease that affect multiple regions of lymph nodes and related tissues (as opposed to unicentric where only one lymph node is affected). It is a lymphoproliferative disorder which means there is an overgrowth of lymphocytes cells in the lymphatic system. Although it is not cancer, MCD is a mimic disease that acts exactly like lymphoma. In fact, the multicentric type of Castleman’s eventually develops Lymphoma.
Dani has a long hard battle ahead of her. She is set to start chemo in January and will also need to do other treatment in both Kelowna and Vancouver. Dani is a single mom of a 16 year old boy Kade, whom she is very devoted to and has been raising on her own since he was born. who knows Dani knows that Kade is her life; they have a really close bond. Currently, Dani is not able to work, and she is waiting for her disability which wont start till at least early spring. Just her special nutrition alone (which is the only thing that gets her feeling well enough in the day to do anything and is getting her strength up to prepare for chemo) is costing several hundred dollars a week. This does not include day to day expenses, bills, and upcoming moving and rent expenses due to receiving an eviction notice while hospitalized. There will also be medical travel expenses for Danielle and her parents who will be accommodating her.
Everybody knows Dani has been helping people her whole life and will give the shirt off her back and now is the time she needs us to help her by donating whatever amount you can. Even sharing her story on your social media will be a great help as Dani has made it her mission to bring awareness to this rare disease, and will be starting a foundation in the near future.
Thank you for taking the time to read this story and for any help in the matter.
https://www.cdcn.org/
I chose the title Bee Brave For Dani Bee because the day before her diagnosis, Dani and Kade were in the hospital gift shop when Kade found a key chain of a queen bee with the words “Bee Brave”. Kade wanted to come back and buy the keychain for his mom. The next day, a friend gifted Dani with the keychain not even knowing the story. Bee brave has been the motto Dani and her family has used ever since.
As many of you know, Dani had a recent unexpected stay in the Kelowna General Hospital. On October 12, what started out as a trip to the ER for a sudden extremely swollen bump in her stomach, ended up in Dani being admitted into the hospital for 35 days. She was first admitted into the Cardia c unit as is was believed that she may be experiencing angina. After a couple of days Dani was going to be released as they could not find anything further with her heart. After hearing her pleas that something still was not right, she did not feel well and her condition had worsened, the doctor decided to give her a CT scan on her chest to ensure she did not have a blood clot on her lungs. That’s when everything changed…they found a mass in her chest and her lymph nodes were three times the size they should be. Dani was informed that she was going in for a mammogram and a biopsy on her lymph nodes to ensure she did not have cancer. After numerous CT scans, tests, bloodwork, a lymph node biopsy and then a lymph node removal for a biopsy dissection, and two surgeries, her and her family received devastating news: Dani was diagnosed with a very rare deadly illness called Multicentric Castlemans Disease (HHV-8 negative and HIV negative).
Multicentric Castlemans disease is a rare disease that affect multiple regions of lymph nodes and related tissues (as opposed to unicentric where only one lymph node is affected). It is a lymphoproliferative disorder which means there is an overgrowth of lymphocytes cells in the lymphatic system. Although it is not cancer, MCD is a mimic disease that acts exactly like lymphoma. In fact, the multicentric type of Castleman’s eventually develops Lymphoma.
Dani has a long hard battle ahead of her. She is set to start chemo in January and will also need to do other treatment in both Kelowna and Vancouver. Dani is a single mom of a 16 year old boy Kade, whom she is very devoted to and has been raising on her own since he was born. who knows Dani knows that Kade is her life; they have a really close bond. Currently, Dani is not able to work, and she is waiting for her disability which wont start till at least early spring. Just her special nutrition alone (which is the only thing that gets her feeling well enough in the day to do anything and is getting her strength up to prepare for chemo) is costing several hundred dollars a week. This does not include day to day expenses, bills, and upcoming moving and rent expenses due to receiving an eviction notice while hospitalized. There will also be medical travel expenses for Danielle and her parents who will be accommodating her.
Everybody knows Dani has been helping people her whole life and will give the shirt off her back and now is the time she needs us to help her by donating whatever amount you can. Even sharing her story on your social media will be a great help as Dani has made it her mission to bring awareness to this rare disease, and will be starting a foundation in the near future.
Thank you for taking the time to read this story and for any help in the matter.
https://www.cdcn.org/
Organizer
Trish Bell
Organizer
Kelowna, BC