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Help Kelly Heimsath fight cancer
Donation protected
Our dear friend, Kelly Heimsath, was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer back in March 2021. The cancer had unfortunately already metastasized to her lungs, which bumped her up to stage 4 (once a cancer spread to another organ).
Prognosis seemed treatable as the lung nodules were small but dispersed across her lungs, which made it impossible to remove them surgically. She therefore began a heavy dose of chemotherapy, followed by radiation, which made her incredibly sick and exhausted - but Kelly is a fighter and has always been determined to battle the cancer.
Kelly also said early on, that part of the good that should come from her diagnosis would be, that she wanted to “turn her mess into her message”. She therefore started spreading the word and told everyone to get checked and get a colonoscopy starting at age 45. She was 50 when she had hers performed and the doctors said that she had the cancer for approximately 7 years. If she would have had her colonoscopy at age 45, the prognosis would have been much different… Please help Kelly spread the word and tell people to get checked for colon cancer now and not to wait!
After Kelly completed a 2nd round of chemotherapy by early 2022, there was some good news, a little miracle, when the original colorectal cancer seemed to have disappeared due to the combination of chemo, radiation, healthy lifestyle changes and spiritual work. It was then decided to mover her to a lighter form of maintenance chemo to try to keep the metastasized nodules in her lungs in check. And with that, we had our old fun-loving, adventure-seeking and wanderlust Kelly back!
Unfortunately, the maintenance chemo stopped working after a while and the nodules in her lungs began to grow again, causing Kelly much discomfort and pain. Her doctors put her on another form of chemotherapy and again it made her even more exhausted and sick than the first chemo. She then fainted one day in late 2023, thinking it was from the exhaustion or low blood pressure. Her oncologist ordered an MRI and the news came back, that the cancer had spread to her brain. As it turns out, the fainting incident might have been a blessing in disguise, as it had alarmed her doctors to scan her brain out of caution and they were able to detect these tumors here very early on. Another round of highly targeted radiation to the area of her brain was performed and the hope is that the doctors were able to treat and zap the metastasis in her brain.
Kelly and Lars enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving together before traveling to Germany to visit his family for the holidays, followed by a trip to Scotland to celebrate their 10 year wedding anniversary. During the trip to Europe, Kelly was not herself, feeling incredibly exhausted and in pain from the coughing, and her health began to deteriorate. She pushed through, to be able to go to Scotland with her love and celebrate their wedding anniversary, but it was clear that she was not doing well.
Upon returning to the US, her doctor ordered another scan and the news came back this week, that the nodules in her lungs have grown and are causing liquid to build up in the lining of her lungs. Her oncologist stopped the last type of chemo, which was not working but having all kinds of terrible side-effects. He advised her to start a new targeted form of chemotherapy in combination with a trial-immunotherapy drug that is not yet approved by the FDA and therefore not covered by insurance. This new immunotherapy drug costs $10,000 every 3 weeks.
We would like to come together as a community and help Kelly and Lars to know that they are not alone, and that we are here with them to help them fight this battle. Our hope is that this new treatment regiment of targeted chemotherapy and trial-Immunotherapy will be just what she needs to fight this cancer.
Please assist us in supporting them - every little bit will help.
Thank you
Love & Light
Organizer and beneficiary
Paula Daza
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Lars Heimsath
Beneficiary