Julie Isley O'Keefe

Hi, my name is Ray Tucker. I am the uncle of Julie Isley O’Keefe. I am establishing a Go Fund Me account to assist Julie in her battle with a life-threatening illness. Please read her story and the road map below showing the illness's path over four years.

 

I’m here to provide you with a little more information about Julie. As a young lady growing up, she always looked for ways to improve herself and shared that desire with others working within her church, school, and college. I saw her excel in sports throughout the years. She shared her sports knowledge with others, especially young females as a young woman. After college, she was a soccer coach for a girl’s youth soccer team that traveled and qualified for a National Championship in CA in 2012. Her team went on to win the National Championship for their age group. Julie has been involved in various activities, and a Google search will show many achievements.

 

Julie has completed her nursing studies and has chosen to serve the community by working in Public Health at her local Health Department. She is a single mom and has a beautiful son Jonah who is following in her athletic footsteps.

 

Please read more about Julie’s story below…

 

 

JULIE’S STORY

 

Julie Isley O'Keefe, RN and son Jonah

In August of 2018, Julie began her journey to go back to school and pursue her life-long dream of becoming a Nurse. While working on an in-patient Psychiatric Unit that June, she began experiencing some vision changes. After a trip to the Ophthalmologist, she was told that she was having age-related changes and sent home with eyeglasses. Over the next several months, symptoms continued to worsen. After a few more trips to the doctor and ultimately symptoms of retinal detachment, she was referred to a retinal specialist. In March 2018, she was diagnosed with Ocular Melanoma (OM) in her right eye. At that time, because of the appointments at Duke and her medical needs, she was forced to take medical leave from Nursing School. Doctors aren’t sure what causes OM, but it is most commonly found in 65 and older Caucasian men. It is also an extremely rare cancer affecting five people in 1 million annually. In April 2018, she had radiation on her right eye, but the radiation caused so much damage to the vision that she opted to have enucleation in March 2020. The true threat of OM is not the impact on the eye, but rather the fear of it spreading to other parts of the body, which occurs in approximately 50% of people. In August 2019, Julie bravely went back to school to complete her journey to become a Nurse. In May 2021, she completed her Nursing program at the top of her class and went on to pass her boards, officially making her a Registered Nurse. She began her job at the Caldwell County Health Department in August 2021. After three and a half years of clear scans, in September 2021, a single tumor was detected in her liver during her bi-annual MRI. She immediately went in for surgery to remove the cancer. It was then confirmed that it was a metastatic lesion. Because of the rare nature of OM and the lack of funding and research for this particular cancer, there were no preventative options to begin, so she had to accept a watch-and-wait approach. In January 2022, during repeat scans, it was discovered that the cancer had progressed and there were now many lesions throughout the liver. In February, she began a clinical trial at Duke. Unfortunately, her body did not respond to the trial drug, and her March scans showed progression in the liver and new lesions in the lungs. After speaking with her family, friends, and other OM survivors, she felt that she had exhausted all options at Duke, and time was of the essence. She began reaching out to other well-known OM Physicians in Philadelphia, NY, and Pittsburgh to try and establish a new game plan. In April, she and her brother Lee flew to NY to meet with a Physician that an OM friend had recommended. Upon meeting him, they both knew this Physician and his team had a lot to offer. They began putting together a game plan that provided hope. The downside to this new direction was the financial burden this would cause. Working with her new team requires numerous trips to NY, including flights for her and another, so she doesn’t have to travel alone, hotel costs, and additional expenses such as transportation and food. Over the past five weeks, Julie has had to make four trips to NY, with several more trips up and coming over the next two-three months.

 

When we hear stories of situations like this, we are likely to say, “What Can I Do To Help?”. With the Go Fund Me Account, all contributions will be used to offset medical and travel expenses. Any funds collected above medical and travel costs will be donated to the Ocular Melanoma Foundation to further research to find a cure for this horrible illness someday. Any amount is helpful, and we thank you for your support and generosity. If you cannot give at this time, we understand and ask that you keep Julie and her family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate through this very challenging time.