Taylor’s fight against Intimal Sarcoma

To Taylor’s friends and family,

On November 29 Taylor got some very scary news from his cardiologist. Over the last month he had several episodes where he would almost pass out, had chest pain, dizziness etc. The episodes started to become more frequent so he got an EKG to see if it was his heart. The doctors initially said he had an electrical problem in his heart called Wolf Parkinson White syndrome. He was scheduled with Dr. Manda and got a confirming diagnosis. From there he was scheduled to see an EP doctor to have an ablation and have a routine ECHO. Monday, November 28 he had an ECHO and Dr. Manda found something neither of them were expecting. On the ECHO it showed two tumors inside the Left Atrium of his heart (Atrial Myxoma). He said they are most likely benign but would need to come out ASAP. He was automatically scheduled with a cardiac surgeon for November 30. After the appointment with the cardiac surgeon it was determined that he would have open heart surgery on December 8 to remove the tumors and possibly repair the mitral valve. The surgeon wanted him to have surgery ASAP, but it was his finals test week in grad school (to become a Nurse Practitioner) so Taylor requested they wait for surgery after his last exam.

On December 8, Taylor had open heart surgery to remove tumors from inside his left atrium, a maze procedure and repair his mitral valve. They thought there were only 2 tumors going into the surgery but found out there were 3. One was a myxoma, second was a fibroma, and the third was something the doctor had never seen before. The doctors thought he needed a second surgery to take care of the Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome but they told him on December 12 they were pretty sure it was taken care of during the surgery and he wouldn’t have to have a second surgery.

Fast forward to December 16, Taylor received the dreaded call that all three tumors are cancerous. He met with the oncologist December 20 and they confirmed he has intimal sarcoma of the heart. It’s very rare; only 100 people a year are diagnosed with it. The doctor thinks it’s only in the heart but he has to have a MRI of the brain and CT of the abdomen, chest and pelvis to rule out anywhere else. He will have a port placed at the beginning of the year and start chemo January 23rd. It will be super aggressive chemo, anywhere from 4-6 months (most likely ending in June). The treatment is 3 days (6-7 hour days) in a row with 18 days in between treatments. The doctor said Taylor will lose his hair, have significant side effects (nausea, aching, brain fog and fatigue) and have a pretty weak immune system during the process so he can’t be around anyone who is remotely sick. During treatment he won’t be able to work or go to school. Lisa will be his caretaker, therefore, she too will be out of work a lot. The doctor is confident in treatment so that gives us a lot of hope! We are hoping that nothing shows during the scans and he can start chemo on time.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this and helping Taylor with his medical bills and expenses while he fights Intimal Sarcoma of the Heart. To know Taylor, Lisa, and Gary is to love them. They would never ask for help; but they are going to need an army of support for the battle ahead. If you can’t donate, they would appreciate your prayers, love and support as much as the monetary donation.