Cancer Sucks! Please help Mary Ann Cullen

Hello family and friends; sadly we have some difficult news to share. A few months ago, Mary Ann began to experience pain between her shoulder blades and back. The pain continued to grow; she consulted with her GP, who ordered physical therapy and muscle relaxers, believing the pain was muscular. X-rays were eventually ordered, and a suspicious nodule was detected on her lung. A CT scan revealed a tumor on her kidney, another in the nearby soft tissue, spots on both lungs, and a tumor in her spinal column at the T5 vertebrae.

As you can imagine, we’re all incredibly shocked and scared. She met with a local oncologist and radiation oncologist, both of whom were amazed she was able to walk given the size and placement of the spinal tumor. Mary Ann started radiation treatments a few weeks ago, focused on the tumor on her spine. Unfortunately, the pain in her back steadily increased. After more imaging and testing, she was referred to a specialist at the University of Iowa. Mary Ann met with a neurosurgeon at UofI and surgeries were planned for July 5th and 6th to remove as much of the spinal tumor as possible, in order to relieve the pressure on her spinal cord. Unfortunately, over the 4th of July weekend, she began to lose feeling in her legs and became non-ambulatory. Her pain was unmanageable, and the decision was made to proceed to emergency spinal surgery the evening of the 4th of July to prevent potential paralysis.

The four-hour surgery went according to plan; the neurosurgeon was able to remove a large part of the tumor. We are still awaiting biopsy results to confirm, but her doctors strongly suspect it is Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma, Stage IV. The cancer likely originated in her kidney and spread to the other affected parts of her body. Mary Ann is still at the University of Iowa and is stable. She is out of the ICU, and is making slow but sure progress and gaining strength each day. She has regained some feeling and movement in her legs after the surgery. The plan going forward is to get her transferred to inpatient rehabilitation at Genesis West for a few weeks of intensive physical and occupational therapy; we are currently waiting for insurance approval. In the coming weeks, she will also be meeting with an excellent oncologist from UofI who specializes in genitourinary cancers. Once the biopsy results are in, a formal treatment plan will be put in place to start some form of immunotherapy or chemotherapy, and possibly additional radiation treatments.

As you can imagine, this has been an extremely difficult time for all our family. Mary Ann is the most selfless, caring, sweet, gentle, and wonderful wife, mother, Grammy, and friend in the entire world. If you’ve met her, we know you’d say the same! We really want her focus to be on growing stronger and healthier each day, and not on everyday financials and the inevitable avalanche of medical expenses. We’re all rallying behind her with overflowing amounts of support. If you can help in any way at all, our family would greatly appreciate it. If you aren’t able to donate, we completely understand! Letters, calls, texts, prayers, and good vibes are equally appreciated. Mary Ann is strong; she is fierce; she is a fighter. We will continue to provide updates here on her progress. Thank you everyone for your support!