Help Christina Heal and Recover

Eliza VanDeWiele is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Christina Van De Wiele.

Donation protected

Hi everyone, my name is Eliza and I'm raising funds for my sister Christina and her family.

As some of you might be aware, on October 24th, Christina was admitted to the hospital after a CT scan led to the discovery of a large mass (16.8 x 24.9 x 21.8 cm) in her abdomen. Now, I'm a visual person, so I got out my ruler and converted that into inches and found some things that somewhat represent that size.

For the sportsball people--the diameter of a basketball is 9.43". Christina's mass at it's largest measurement (width) was 9.8". The height of the mass was 8.2" which is pretty close to the size of a regulation volleyball (8.15"). A regulation American football is 11.25" long. Christina's mass clocked in at over half that length at 6.6".

This, of course, was after several visits to urgent care and one other visit to the emergency room where she was sent home (please don't get me started on the lack of historical research and care on women's health because I am sure this is not an isolated incident in our healthcare system).

On October 25th, Christina had emergency surgery where they removed the mass, her cervix, uterus, one ovary, fallopian tubes, and appendix. Christina's surgeon reported that the mass was interfering with the natural lubrication of the tissues and organs in her abdomen, and her appendix was "crunchy", so it had to go. Her organs felt sticky to the touch and were not in a healthy condition--likely due to the invader threatening her life.

We're still waiting on the full results from pathology and are hopeful that Christina does not have cancer.

The good news is that she is home and recovering. The bad news is she is not able to work for six weeks and does not have short term disability, sick pay, vacation time or paid FMLA benefits to bridge the pay gap. This puts them at risk for paying rent, buying groceries, and all of the other monthly bills we all worry about. Asking for help is hard, so I'm doing it for them.

If you can help, I know they will pay it forward when they can.