Benita's Stage 4 Cancer Battle

Hey everyone! My name is Benita and I'm a 33-year-old figure skating dietitian. I'm going on year 5 of fighting stage 4 bile duct cancer - a diagnosis that has a 2% five-year survival rate, and **fingers crossed** I plan on beating those odds. But dang, this battle is a roller coaster!

In November/December of 2023, I hit my lowest point since my diagnosis in 2019. The treatment I had been on for the previous year (October 2022-October 2023) completely zapped my appetite, messed up my digestive system, and consequently made me lose a lot of weight and most of my energy. On top of that, it stopped being effective so I was having tumor regrowth and old cancer symptoms were returning (like bloating and ascites). Some of the tumor regrowth blocked my ureters so I also had to have a bilateral nephrostomy and currently dealing with adjusting to life with external pee bags. I was told by my doctor that if my body didn't take to a new treatment, the goal was to make me comfortable in waiting to die.

In the beginning of December 2023, I began a new treatment called Futibatinib and it quickly began to turn my health status around. My appetite started to return and with our newfound appreciation of life (and food!), my husband, Dexter, and I decided to finally book our honeymoon trip to Alaska - long story short, it was AMAZING! On our way home we took a detour to MD Anderson to get another opinion and were comforted by the fabulous doctors and news that there are other options available if/when Futibatinib stops working for me.

Now I’ve been on Futibatinib for about 7 months, my latest scans show mixed results: tumor shrinkage in the liver but growth in the various tumors in my pelvic region. Because of this, we’re ready to go back to MD Anderson and try the next option. The purpose of this GoFundMe is to raise money for my medical expenses including deductibles, monitoring from MD Anderson (not covered by my insurance), bills (as Dexter is working less to be able to spend more time with me), and some bucket-list travel expenses.

If you want to read my whole story and stay updated, check out my Caring Bridge site at https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/benitawilliams

Site Name: benitawilliams