Sonja (Brown) Bilinski’s Battle with Stage 4 Lung Cancer

Dear Friends, Family, & Kind Strangers,

It is with heavy hearts we’re reaching out for some support on behalf of our mother, Sonja (Brown) Bilinski.

This April, Sonja went to the hospital not feeling well, the doctor told her she had pneumonia. A week later, her left hand swelled to a very alarming size. She went back to the hospital where not much was done, and they sent her home again. The next day while at work, her whole arm had also swollen up. She left work and went back to the hospital. They did some tests and determined she had a blood clot and that was causing the swelling in her arm and hand. They did x-rays and found a mass on her lung. The doctors told her she has symptoms of stage four cancer. Later she was moved to the Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. They did a biopsy and a full body scan and confirmed that she has cancer on her right lung, and it has spread to her lymph nodes, and liver. There is also a tumour, the size of an orange in her chest.

The doctors believe that she has been living with cancer for over a year now without knowing it. The mass in her chest is causing a blockage that is resulting in her arm and hand swelling as well as an intense migraine that will not subside. The pain does not lessen without intravenous medication.

The doctors have said there is no operation or cure for this stage of cancer. Without medical attention she will not have long to live, but with proper care and medical treatments we can hope for and average of 1.5 years life expectancy. To get her comfortable and stop the swelling the mass in her chest needs to shrink. She has already had two rounds of radiation while she was in Victoria. Her treatment plan will require many more rounds of radiation followed with chemotherapy and immunotherapy. She cannot start chemotherapy until the doctors feel her body can handle this intense treatment. They are hoping the mass will shrink enough with the radiation to able to start soon.

Sonja was sent back to Port Alberni hospital May 3 and released to go home May 6. The doctor there recommended that she stays in her own home rather than the hospital so that she would be more comfortable. For the next week care aides will be coming to her home twice a day to help administer medications and check in on her. After this they are hoping the in-home visits can be cut down to twice a week. She must rent a hospital bed for her home because if she is not elevated when she lays down her blood pressure climbs to hypertensive levels.

Unfortunately, Sonja had recently transferred jobs within the same company and her medical benefits’ six-month probation period still had two months to go before becoming active again. Due to her health, she will not be able to return to work. Without any income from work she will be unable to afford the many prescriptions or travel expenses required to get to her upcoming radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy appointments. She will have to travel to Nanaimo and Victoria for these appointments.

Any funds raised will go towards helping pay for her prescriptions, travel to and from her treatment appointments, renting a hospital bed, and potentially moving her closer to her daughters so that they can help her through this devastating time. Any help will be greatly appreciated.