Denise's fight for her life

It has been an agonizing 5 years for the Stanley/Gilbert family. As many of you know, my sister, Denise Stanley, has been fighting the fight of her life. In 2012 at the age of 47 Denise was given the devastating life-changing news of being diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, panic and shock set in for everyone. She immediately was scheduled for emergency surgery to remove the tumor which spread to her peritoneal cavity, omentum, small and large intestine. After her surgery there were many complications, including a collapsed lung after the insertion of her port and several infections (adding month long stays in the hospital). Next was 6 months of chemotherapy, Denise lost 20 pounds and was severely ill. We were all optimistic because her PET scans looked good for a short time, until April 2014 she had a reoccurrence followed by another surgery and more chemo treatments. In 2015 Denise started with severe optical migraines, she had a two hour MRI and spinal tap. We received the heartbreaking news the cancer spread to the lining around the brain (Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis). At this point doctors inserted an Ommaya port implanted under the scalp and immediately began 10 radiation treatments and continued chemo. Every 3 – 6 months Denise gets MRIs and PET scans, with every test we hope and pray there is a miracle but it still remains. Denise will be on treatment for the rest of her life unless they find a cure. With Denise’s positive attitude she hides the pain from everyone. Due to her weekly chemo, doctor appointments, traveling back and forth to New York, fluids for dehydration, blood transfusions, physical therapy for her lymphedema, allergic reactions from her treatments, optical migraines, blurred vision, and basically feeling ill everyday, she no longer has the time to devote to her full time job and has decided to give it up as of this year. Cancer had literally taken a toll on her physically and financially with significant medical debt from the cost of treatment to keep her alive. Everyday worries of how are we going to take care of our bills, when she should just be worried about how am I going to get through today. I’m starting this fund to try to help take the burden off of her and her family in any way. We are holding onto the hope we could see a cure for Denise’s cancer during her lifetime, that is priceless!!

I will be updating this site to inform everyone on her progress.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of Denise's family during their time of need.  Let's find a cure so that someday no family will ever have to go through this.

LET'S FIND A CURE!

Some information on Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, this cancer is being diagnosed with increasing frequency as patients live longer. The most common cancers to involve the leptomeninges are breast cancer, lung cancer, and melanomas. Without treatment, the median survival of patients with this disorder is 4-6 weeks and death occurs from progressive neurologic dysfunction. Early diagnosis and therapy is critical to preserving neurologic function. Further studies is critical to providing better outcomes for this increasing common complication of cancer. Further information on the mechanisms of neurotoxicity from antineoplastic agents is critical to providing better outcomes for this increasing common complication of cancer.