Help Noelle McCown beat cancer!

Hello everyone - my wife, Noelle McCown, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer in July of 2022. Noelle and I have been married for over fourteen years and have an amazing son, Noah, who just turned seven.

We are going to beat this; it is not a question of "if." We've had some incredible support thus far from family, friends, work colleagues, medical professionals, and strangers alike. And as cliche as it sounds, it really does take a village. We are so incredibly grateful and humbled by the LOVE that has been sent our way. Words can't justly describe how deeply grateful we are.

As medical bills start to roll in, we are humbly seeking any monetary support that can be given. This will go towards bills, food, groceries, household expenses, and things for Noah (who has been such a brave and adaptable boy during this whole thing - we couldn't be more proud or in awe of him). Noelle and I are both pretty self-reliant people, so it feels strange to ask for help. But due to the nature of Noelle's cancer, we feel it is time to do so. Anything will help at this point.

For the story of how we got here and where our treatment plan is headed, please read below:

In May of this year (2022), Noelle started feeling pain in her right leg. The pain didn't go away after a few days, and it steadily increased, so she went to urgent care. They sent her home with pain meds, assuming like we did, that it would soon go away. It didn't.

She went to the ER. They thought it was sciatic-related, but said she shouldn't be having this much pain from it. They sent her home, assuming it would go away. It didn't.

After a few days of more pain, she went back to urgent care again. Different doctor, same response. "You shouldn't be in this much pain" - more meds, assuming it would go away. Still, it didn't go away. It was getting worse and worse.

After more days of unbearable pain and now ensuing nausea and weight loss, she went back to the ER to receive the same response again, "You shouldn't be in this much pain."

Finally, a primary care physician referred her to an external specialist. The specialist eventually ran a nerve conduction study and an MRI and saw that the right leg nerves were severely swollen, causing immense pain. Someone finally at least understood her pain was real.

While we waited for insurance to approve an x-ray guided procedure for them to inject steroids to the sciatic notch, a procedure they felt would solve her pain and get her back to normal, the leg pain intensified.

Unable to wait until the procedure, another ER trip led to being admitted to the Hospital. We stayed three nights, where they just gave her more pain meds and ran only a few tests - none of which told them anything they didn't already think they knew. We told them we just needed to get to the procedure - the specialist was certain it would take care of everything and ease the level-10 pain she had now been in for six weeks, so we were discharged.

She got the procedure - at this point she could no longer walk or drive. The first few days after the procedure, we were waiting in hope for the pain to go away. But after a week, the pain was still there. We didn't know what to do.

The pain was still unbearable, so back to the ER looking for some kind of an answer. This time, they ran the proper CT scans, and the doctor saw something concerning.

He broke the news to us that the CT techinician saw masses in her pelvic region, near her cervix, that looked consistent with cancer. It was possible this could somehow be the source of the leg pain. He instructed us to go see someone he knew and trusted across town at a different hospital.

We digested the news as best one can in the moment. I felt the blood drain from my face and just wanted to make sure I was being strong for Noelle. She took the news incredibly well, and in some ways it was a relief to have an explanation for the pain. I will never forget how brave and powerfully strong she was in that moment.

It looked as if the tumor had spread over to the right side wall, where a group of nerves are housed, including her sciatic nerve. The cancer was strangling her nerve, causing the unbearable pain.

At the next hospital, they admitted her immediately and the next day performed a diagnostic laparoscopic surgery to confirm the imagery from the CT. Indeed, she had cervical cancer that had spread. Surgery to remove it was not an option, as it had spread to enough of her pelvis/abdomen that it would do more harm than good to just remove the cervix and parts of the tumor. Meanwhile, the leg pain remained. The cancer also made it difficult to urinate, so they inserted a catheter. She stayed in that hospital for five days, while they stabilized her and managed her pain. We set up an initial consultation with a Radiation Oncologist where she would be receiving external radiation treatment for cancer, in combination with chemotherapy, at the Disney Family Cancer Center in Burbank, as part of her treatment plan moving forward. We planned the discharge knowing this very important consult was the following day.

We went home, she got to see Noah for the first time in a week, and we felt we had a glimpse of the start of treatment. But that night, the urine in her catheter bag started getting pinker and then redder, and by morning it was deep red. We were concerned, and her bladder was now causing her great discomfort. But we had a very important 9am appointment. So we decided to go to the appointment, which was adjacent to the hospital where she would be getting treatment.

The Radiation Oncologist and her amazing team of nurses met with us to discuss treatment, and had us immediately go check into the ER at that hospital, due to the blood in the urine.

She was admitted to the hospital for treatment, and what ensued next was getting 6 months worth of tests and doctor visits done within a nine day period at Providence St. Joseph's in Burbank. We got set up with her Medical Oncologist, who is essentially the quarterback of her cancer treatment path moving forward, as well as her Gynocologist-Oncologist. She underwent surgery to clean out her bladder of the blood clots, which were causing the blood in the urine (thankfully it wasn't something more serious, but rather a result of the catheter being too small and causing clotting). We got her pain managed as best we could. We met with Pulimologists to help figure out that the spots that showed up in the Xrays on her lungs were NOT cancer, but rather a slight infection from being immobilized for so long. She had so many xrays, CT scans, EKGs, and every other test done - I don't know how she made it through everything. All the while she was still in level-10 pain from her leg, which had now lost movement and any functionality.

They started her first chemotherapy treatments while she was in the hospital and transported her via ambulance for her first two external radiation sessions. Given her young age and good health prior to everything, the doctors planned to be AGGRESSIVE and to CURE it.

So we got out of the hospital, back home with Noah, and a new routine. I had since needed to take a leave from work, which I am still on. We receive a meal train from the very generous people at work and some outside of work. Noelle's parents, Stan and Debrah Wilson, have been with Noah while I've been at the hospital with Noelle - sometimes for 14 hours stretches. Stan has been a great comfort to Noelle, switching off with me some evenings. Debrah has been a life-savor watching over Noah. My parents, Kirk and Marcia McCown, have flown out to help too, sometimes at a moment's notice. We did twenty-five straight sessions of external radiation every weekday - hauling around the oxygen tank, catheter, and wheelchair. We got our six initial chemotherapy treatments every Monday. Noelle was a warrior - not missing any sessions of either, all while still in pain and increasing weakness and sometimes debilitating nausea.

Our team of doctors has been amazing. Our family has been miraculous. Noah has been the bravest kid I've ever seen - still the brightest light I've known despite seeing his Mama going through this tough time. I've been her full-time caretaker and have found a new form of compassion and Love I didn't know was inside me. And Noelle has been nothing short of amazing. Amazing isn't even the right word - there isn't a word for it. She has been through so much. Everything I've just described doesn't do it justice. She is a warrior, a fighter. She's full of love, full of trust, and full of unbelievable bravery and strength.

After completing the twenty-five radiation and six chemotherapy sessions, she's also received a procedure for internal Brachytherapy radiation - an inpatient procedure at City of Hope hospital, where they targeted the tumor with close-up radiation therapy. This was a hugely critical step towards healing and hopefully curing the cancer. Next, she will have a few weeks before starting a new regimen of chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments, which will be ongoing for 5-6 months. In between, we will try to figure out how to relieve the pain and immobility of her right leg, which has still not yet subsided.

We are on the path, going where we are told to go for the best possible treatment. We are taking it moment to moment, trying not to let the unknown weigh us down or cloud our thoughts or give our fears too much fuel. We hand over our trust to Divine LOVE.

Thank you for reading. And thank you, from the bottom of our hearts and souls, for any help you can give while we get through this chapter of our lives. We WILL come out of this stronger and more compassionate, not taking anything for granted, and recognizing the ways we are infinitely blessed by Divine Love.