Medical bills for Whitney

Please help this beautiful soul pay for expenses as she was recently diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma. She’s one of the most genuine, caring, selfless people I know. Here are her words below. Thank you. “On August 19th, two days after my 32nd birthday, I was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma cancer surrounding the nerves of my sacral spine.

In March of this year, I started having right buttock pain, which I initially thought was due to an overuse injury due to my rigorous medical residency schedule. I tried all of the conservative management I would recommend to any of my young, healthy patients, but unfortunately the pain continued to worsen over the coming months and new symptoms, that I could no longer try to ignore, began to appear. So, at the end of July, I saw my primary care physician and had an MRI.

My symptoms turned out to be a tumor compressing my sacral nerves and surrounding bone and muscle. The tumor was read on imaging as likely benign (non-cancerous), but due to the location, I was referred to Mayo Clinic Neurosurgery in Rochester, MN for surgical discussion. While there, I underwent multiple bone biopsies of my sacrum with their Interventional Radiologist to determine if the tumor was cancer.

On August 19th, about 2 weeks after my biopsy procedure at Mayo, I was scheduled for a tumor resection and laminectomy (removal of a portion of the sacrum in order to access the tumor). I was put under general anaesthesia, but while I was under, my neurosurgeon had to change plans due to the extent of the tumor growth and the pathology results coming back as Ewing Sarcoma, with risk of causing cancer spread if the tumor could not be completely removed. Instead, more bone and muscle biopsies were taken.

It has been a whirlwind of appointments, imaging, and procedures ever since. Further imaging showed the tumor had grown and fractured my sacrum, accounting for immense increase in pain. My PET scan fortunately showed only localized cancer with no metastatic spread. I had my port surgically placed on Thursday, September 1st so I can start 14 x2-week rounds of chemotherapy on Tuesday, September 6th. I will have more imaging after about 4 cycles of chemotherapy to assess its effectiveness. I will also have surgery and radiation therapy after 7 cycles of chemotherapy.

If everything goes well, I will be undergoing treatments for the next 7-8 months, longer if complications arise. I will fortunately be able to do most of my chemotherapy where I live, but will need to travel back to Mayo Clinic multiple times, and sometimes for several months at a time, due to access to specialist physicians and more advanced radiation technology.

I have wanted to be a doctor ever since I can remember, and as a Family Medicine Resident Physician in my final year of training, I am accustomed to caring for others and putting my own needs aside. Crossing the line from the doctor to the patient side of health care was never on my radar. I am beyond grateful for my friends, family, and colleagues with whom I have thus-far discussed my diagnosis and have given me such love and support. My residency program has assured me that I can continue my final year of training when I am ready and even walk with my class at graduation. My future employer will also hold my position and welcome me after I complete my training, despite the inevitable delays.

There has been immense tradgedy in many of our lives, coming to know several people from my past and present who are likewise going through similiar grief as my husband Josh and I are now. I have been extremely torn about posting this but I feel it may help others to know they are not alone.“