Help Sophia fight a rare cancerous tumor

Hello Everyone,

I am here on my wife's behalf, asking for help and prayer. My name is Blake Van Brunt; my wife Sophia and I met in 2014; it was love at first sight. Two years later, I asked for her hand in marriage. When she came into my life, I knew she was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The passion and strength in this woman are like nothing I've ever seen before. I mean, she was a single mom with three young men to raise, that's no easy job, plus she worked a night shift twelve-hour job as a truck dispatcher. She still managed to make time for me with all her responsibilities, becoming my best friend. God had answered my prayers, sending me this angel! I loved watching her be such a fantastic mother to her children, constantly pushing to further her career, better her health, and make me the happiest man in the world. Sophia has three amazing sons, Jonathan, Josh, and Austin. These young men have become like sons to me and welcomed me into their family immediately. So I am also on this platform for their amazing mother on my sons' behalf.

In 2017 Sophia was admitted to the hospital for extreme abdominal pain. The scans showed an intestinal blockage and a “cyst” on her pancreas. The DR did emergency surgery, fixed the abdominal blockage, and told her to follow up with her primary care about the cyst. Her primary care sent her to a specialist, and they told her they couldn’t biopsy it due to her gastric bypass; if they did the surgery, it would be very complicated. We were told no big deal, it would be monitored annually through MRIs, and it's nothing more.

Then in August 2020, we would end up switching insurances and using a different medical provider. She ordered an MRI and referred Sophia to a gastric bypass DR. This DR said it was possible to biopsy it but first sent her to an oncologist at UC Davis to decide the best direction. The oncologist let Sophia know the “cyst” was a tumor, and we should biopsy it. So Sophia was scheduled for a biopsy in December 2021. In January, the oncologist explained the findings that it was a Neuroendocrine tumor on her pancreas. They need to operate, but it’s a complicated surgery with a long recovery. The surgeon recommended monitoring it through an MRI every six months. We were shocked by this news and thanked God for revealing this!

So we decided to wait as the Dr said. In the meantime, Sophia started looking for what changes she could make to help her body through this. She found many people that beat cancer, like Chris Wark, who beat stage 4 colon cancer without chemo; she learned that she could play a part in healing her body by making changes like diet, exercise, emotional health and supplements. She started following an integrative oncologist Dr. Connealy who has a center in Southern California called Cancer Center for Healing. Dr. Connealy does a test that will help her put together a treatment plan for her patient's type of cancer and looks to find out how it started in the first place. Sophia wanted to find out what she recommended because we both knew the Drs couldn’t guarantee cancer wouldn’t spread. So Sophia traveled to see Dr. Connealy in March 2022 to see what she would recommend. After meeting Dr. Connealy, she ran special blood tests and put together some home treatments for Sophia to follow until the tests came back. When the results were in, Sophia met with her again, and Dr. Connealy suggested Sophia come back to the center to receive treatments for several weeks. One of the tests showed that Sophia has circulating cancer cells, but they also tested those cells against medications and supplements that would fight against it. Sophia and I are excited to know we have an excellent chance to beat this rare tumor!! She is scheduled to travel to Southern California to start the first set of treatments recommended. She will need to stay down there for several weeks in July 2022. We have a new journey ahead of us.

I'm not one to ask people for money or help, but the cost of these medical treatments and travel is more than we can afford. Every little bit of help brings us one step closer to accomplishing this journey in our lives. All donations will go directly towards medical costs such as; medications, IV treatments, special testing, proven cancer-fighting therapies, dietary and supplement plans, and travel and lodging expenses. Our family greatly appreciates all donations, prayers, and just taking the time to read our story. I would also like to thank our friends and family who have helped and prayed for us on this journey. We love you all!