Coming Together for Lisa - A Fighter and Survivor

Update on Lisa - April 29th: Happy 58th Birthday to Cousin Lisa! Lisa received a wonderful birthday present today – she was released from the rehab facility to continue recovery at home! Lisa has made great progress with her speech therapy, her tracheotomy has been removed and she is slowly able to take water by mouth and progressing toward soft foods.

Please share this information with others who you think may be interested and please continue prayers for Lisa’s continued recovery. We will continue to provide updates on Lisa’s progress as we are able.

Lisa’s Cousins ~~ Dana Bartolone, Ann Marie Boyce & Maria Bartolone-Varner

Update on Lisa- April 10th: Lisa’s 12+ hour surgery took place on March 7th. The large portion of her tongue was removed and reconstruction completed. The deteriorated part of Lisa’s jaw was also reconstructed using bone and tissue from her forearm. The surgeons were able to remove the cancer and the goal now is to regain as much function as possible.

Lisa has a tracheotomy and a feeding tube. She has still cannot take anything by mouth and recovery thus far has been very slow. Lisa’s hospital stay at Karmanos Cancer Institute has been a full month which is weeks longer than expected. She will still require continued nursing care so today, April 10th, she is being transferred to a rehab facility, Medilodge of Shoreline in Sterling Heights. After an anticipated month of in-patient rehab, Lisa may still be facing months of recovery at home and more therapy aimed at regaining speech and swallowing function. Despite these challenges, Lisa is committed to her goal of returning to work as a Title Examiner as soon as possible.

The additional weeks of hospitalization and in-patient rehab will unfortunately add to the medical bills not covered by insurance. With her reduced-pay, short-term disability benefits, Lisa is also still trying to meet her normal monthly bills including repayment of a small loan taken due to her cancer surgery last summer and her apartment rent which just went up a $100 a month.

If you are able, please contribute to this Go Fund Me effort. Any amount, large or small, will help our cousin meet the financial challenges she continues to face. Lisa is able to communicate in writing and she wants to express her utmost gratitude for every penny gifted to her. Prayers for her continued recovery are equally important and valued more than you will ever know.

Lisa also wants to say that she is forever grateful to her cousin, Maria Corace, who has been serving as her voice and her advocate during the long weeks of hospitalization. From speaking to physicians and hospital staff, helping to make arrangements, keeping family members informed – Maria has been there to help!

Please share this information with others who you think may be interested. We will continue to provide updates on Lisa’s progress as we are able.

Lisa’s Cousins ~~ Dana Bartolone, Ann Marie Boyce & Maria Bartolone-Varner

As many of our family members are aware, our cousin Lisa Bartolone has faced multiple cancer battles over the last 9 years. That same devil cancer that has beset so many members of our Bartolone family, causing untold suffering and several deaths. Lisa’s battle has recently taken a terrible turn for the worse.

In 2014, Lisa was diagnosed out of the blue with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Over the course of the next few years, she went through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. She went into remission twice, the last time later in 2016.

In February 2020, Lisa was then diagnosed with an entirely different kind of cancer – tongue (oral) cancer. This required surgery to remove a portion of her tongue followed by two months of radiation. Remission was achieved but just last summer, the cancer resurfaced again and Lisa had another surgery to remove another portion of her tongue which affected her speech. She did a great job rehabbing and improving her speech and returned to work, hoping that all stayed positive.

This was not to be. In January of this year, Lisa received a double whammy – the tongue cancer aggressively returned and part of her jaw bone was disintegrating from prior treatments. The specialists at Karmanos Cancer Institute said that chemotherapy and radiation are not options for this situation. The plan to save Lisa’s life was an extremely complex tongue and jaw reconstructive surgery which took place on March 7. It took over 12 hours to complete. If all goes well, it’s expected that she will remain in the hospital for 10 days or so and will return home with a tracheotomy and a feeding tube for about 6 months. Rehab will be provided with the hope that Lisa will regain some speech and the ability to eat and drink somewhat normally. Sadly, while off work for these many months, Lisa’s normal income will be significantly reduced at the same time that portions of her medical bills not covered by insurance will eventually come due.

If you would like to contribute to help Lisa meet the financial challenges due to being off work so long, we’ve set something up to make that happen. Lisa did not ask for financial help but reluctantly agreed when we told her about our idea. Any amount, large or small, will help our cousin get through this very dark time so she can heal and see her way through this.

You’re welcome to share this information with others who you think may be interested. We’ll be providing updates on Lisa’s progress as we are able.

Love to All!

Cousins Dana Bartolone, Ann Marie Boyce & Maria Bartolone-Varner