Lisa's Fund-Breast Cancer/BRCA-1
Donation protected
My little sister is Lisa Ann O'Connell. Lisa has been diagnosed with (BRCA-1) Breast Cancer
http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/genetic/pos_results and Lisa's Cancer is Incurable.
Now before I share the reality of her terrible disease and how much I love my sister, I have to tell you about one of the funniest people I know-those who know Lisa are already nodding.. (We were watching the Red Sox in late September and Lisa saw one of the Sox outfielder’s make (2) amazing catches. She’s a passive fan and asked “Who’s that guy”. I said, “Mookie Betts”. She said, “Well someone should tell that Mookie he should be an Oncologist. That guy catches everything”)
God I love that girl..
First the good news –after struggling since her surgeries in 2013/2014 to find a new job (one of her managers cried when she had to let Lisa go because she couldn’t handle the work load) Lisa landed a great new job that she could walk to. She's a Licensed Drug-Alcohol Counselor and would be working in one of Boston business ER's- her start date was August 30th.
Lisa never started.
On August 23rd after 14 hours in the Beth Israel Hospital Emergency Room because of a severe headache, Doctors admitted her and later confirmed that Lisa's Breast Cancer had spread to her Brain, Lung and Bones. There were many tears, hugs, more tears and then her Oncologist’s reality of what’s ahead and how much she could or would want to tolerate. – That was very sobering. Their most urgent matter -and where she was having excruciating pain-was the cancer in her brain and within 3 days she was undergoing a 10 day regimen of Brain Radiation http://www.bidmc.org/Centers-and-Departments/Departments/Radiation-Oncology/Types-of-Radiation-Therapy/3-Dimensional-Conformal-Radiotherapy.aspx. and a powerful steroid to shrink her tumors. However they also saw the tumors in her lungs growing and decided not to wait for her to start a chemotherapy regimen of Carboplatin and Avestin which also works on her brain tumors. We learned that Neuro Oncologists will only allow for one brain radiation treatment and that if they didn’t shrink that there was little they could do other can provide palliative care. As of today, Lisa is out of the hospital (she just spent 8 days with 2 nights in the ICU) and will continue her weekly treatments. The 30 day review of her brain shows good news that her tumors responded well and she will have another CT scan in December and again January to provide a better picture. We also know that even if they have shrunk the cancer will likely recur. The goal here is time..
The money raised will be used to cover the mounting past due medical expenses, the cost of specialists (Boston and beyond) not covered by insurance and Clinical Trials http://www.cityofhope.org/blog/clinical-trial-for-triple-negative-breast-cancer that have shown good response rates for Lisa's specific cancer. Funds will provide her with a comfortable bed in her brothers former home office that is now Camp Lisa (“anything but a hospital bed- I wonder how many people these kill every year) recliner and to cover in-home visits from visiting nurses and eventually (not for a long time- Hospice).
Finally these funds will be used to give Lisa some peace-of-mind Lisa's a very kind who’s spirits will soar just knowing a complete stranger would do something so genuinely loving…
Please help Lisa anyway you can..
Love,
Team Lisa
http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/genetic/pos_results and Lisa's Cancer is Incurable.
Now before I share the reality of her terrible disease and how much I love my sister, I have to tell you about one of the funniest people I know-those who know Lisa are already nodding.. (We were watching the Red Sox in late September and Lisa saw one of the Sox outfielder’s make (2) amazing catches. She’s a passive fan and asked “Who’s that guy”. I said, “Mookie Betts”. She said, “Well someone should tell that Mookie he should be an Oncologist. That guy catches everything”)
God I love that girl..
First the good news –after struggling since her surgeries in 2013/2014 to find a new job (one of her managers cried when she had to let Lisa go because she couldn’t handle the work load) Lisa landed a great new job that she could walk to. She's a Licensed Drug-Alcohol Counselor and would be working in one of Boston business ER's- her start date was August 30th.
Lisa never started.
On August 23rd after 14 hours in the Beth Israel Hospital Emergency Room because of a severe headache, Doctors admitted her and later confirmed that Lisa's Breast Cancer had spread to her Brain, Lung and Bones. There were many tears, hugs, more tears and then her Oncologist’s reality of what’s ahead and how much she could or would want to tolerate. – That was very sobering. Their most urgent matter -and where she was having excruciating pain-was the cancer in her brain and within 3 days she was undergoing a 10 day regimen of Brain Radiation http://www.bidmc.org/Centers-and-Departments/Departments/Radiation-Oncology/Types-of-Radiation-Therapy/3-Dimensional-Conformal-Radiotherapy.aspx. and a powerful steroid to shrink her tumors. However they also saw the tumors in her lungs growing and decided not to wait for her to start a chemotherapy regimen of Carboplatin and Avestin which also works on her brain tumors. We learned that Neuro Oncologists will only allow for one brain radiation treatment and that if they didn’t shrink that there was little they could do other can provide palliative care. As of today, Lisa is out of the hospital (she just spent 8 days with 2 nights in the ICU) and will continue her weekly treatments. The 30 day review of her brain shows good news that her tumors responded well and she will have another CT scan in December and again January to provide a better picture. We also know that even if they have shrunk the cancer will likely recur. The goal here is time..
The money raised will be used to cover the mounting past due medical expenses, the cost of specialists (Boston and beyond) not covered by insurance and Clinical Trials http://www.cityofhope.org/blog/clinical-trial-for-triple-negative-breast-cancer that have shown good response rates for Lisa's specific cancer. Funds will provide her with a comfortable bed in her brothers former home office that is now Camp Lisa (“anything but a hospital bed- I wonder how many people these kill every year) recliner and to cover in-home visits from visiting nurses and eventually (not for a long time- Hospice).
Finally these funds will be used to give Lisa some peace-of-mind Lisa's a very kind who’s spirits will soar just knowing a complete stranger would do something so genuinely loving…
Please help Lisa anyway you can..
Love,
Team Lisa
Organizer and beneficiary
Rick O'Connell
Organizer
Watertown, MA
Lisa O'Connell
Beneficiary