Help Elin Fight Cancer
Donation protected
Our friend Elin Smith Nicoll learned on Aug. 28 that she has throat cancer. Elin is a wonderful and accomplished person who has faced many challenges before -- but nothing like this.
She would never ask for your help, but her friends, neighbors and family are asking so that we can do whatever we can to help Elin get whatever medical treatment is needed and get the support she needs to beat cancer.
She got the call while her husband and two kids played on the beach as they tried to get in some last summer fun together before school started – and it seemed unreal. For months, she had been seeking answers from various doctors about her chronic throat pain, growing lump on her left neck, difficulty with swallowing, weight loss, and ear, jaw and neck pain without answers.
Now she had a diagnosis and it was devastating: They found cancer in her lymph node and then a PET scan revealed that there was a mass at the back at her tongue. It has spread to two lymph glands on the left side of the throat and one on the right. The cancer has also spread to the muscle of her tongue which moves the rating up to stage three.
Everything is happening so quickly. They are putting in a port and a feeding tube on Sept.17 and starting radiation and chemo the next day. She needs help to clear this from her body and get back to focusing on raising her children.
Elin is the mother to two energetic, special needs children: Merrick and CarolAnwen. Merrick is 7 and CarolAnwen is 6 and she and her husband Peter spent the last two years working with public schools in Fairfax County to get them support in school and help them thrive. Because they need a lot of support, for the last few years Elin has been at home for them.
Peter is a self-employed cinematographer. His schedule can be unpredictable and they often don't know when he will need to leave for a job suddenly. The nature of the work is that you need to work to get paid. In the past October and November are usually his busiest travel months and he may need to leave home while Elin is in the midst of her treatment.
The treatment will be hard with radiation and chemotherapy lasting for months. To make it through this, she is going to need a plan and a team. She's going to need to lean on friends and neighbors a lot because most of her family do not live nearby.
While there are a lot of things that are covered with their health insurance, they are finding there is also a lot that is not covered -- and that includes things that will help manage pain, nausea and anxiety.
Elin has asked for help raising funds for a few specific items: special feeding bags once she can’t successfully or safely swallow, radiation co-pays, acupuncture for pain and nausea, finding a Naturopath for help with Immune support and recovery, and adding in some child and pet care services while she undergoes this treatment.
The next few months are going to be hard on Elin and her family, but with your help we can help lighten their load so that she can focus on recovery.
She would never ask for your help, but her friends, neighbors and family are asking so that we can do whatever we can to help Elin get whatever medical treatment is needed and get the support she needs to beat cancer.
She got the call while her husband and two kids played on the beach as they tried to get in some last summer fun together before school started – and it seemed unreal. For months, she had been seeking answers from various doctors about her chronic throat pain, growing lump on her left neck, difficulty with swallowing, weight loss, and ear, jaw and neck pain without answers.
Now she had a diagnosis and it was devastating: They found cancer in her lymph node and then a PET scan revealed that there was a mass at the back at her tongue. It has spread to two lymph glands on the left side of the throat and one on the right. The cancer has also spread to the muscle of her tongue which moves the rating up to stage three.
Everything is happening so quickly. They are putting in a port and a feeding tube on Sept.17 and starting radiation and chemo the next day. She needs help to clear this from her body and get back to focusing on raising her children.
Elin is the mother to two energetic, special needs children: Merrick and CarolAnwen. Merrick is 7 and CarolAnwen is 6 and she and her husband Peter spent the last two years working with public schools in Fairfax County to get them support in school and help them thrive. Because they need a lot of support, for the last few years Elin has been at home for them.
Peter is a self-employed cinematographer. His schedule can be unpredictable and they often don't know when he will need to leave for a job suddenly. The nature of the work is that you need to work to get paid. In the past October and November are usually his busiest travel months and he may need to leave home while Elin is in the midst of her treatment.
The treatment will be hard with radiation and chemotherapy lasting for months. To make it through this, she is going to need a plan and a team. She's going to need to lean on friends and neighbors a lot because most of her family do not live nearby.
While there are a lot of things that are covered with their health insurance, they are finding there is also a lot that is not covered -- and that includes things that will help manage pain, nausea and anxiety.
Elin has asked for help raising funds for a few specific items: special feeding bags once she can’t successfully or safely swallow, radiation co-pays, acupuncture for pain and nausea, finding a Naturopath for help with Immune support and recovery, and adding in some child and pet care services while she undergoes this treatment.
The next few months are going to be hard on Elin and her family, but with your help we can help lighten their load so that she can focus on recovery.
Fundraising team: Team Nicoll-Smith (4)
Elin Smith
Organizer
Fairfax, VA
Peter Nicoll
Team member
Joanne Genoble
Team member
Vida Russell
Team member