Lesli Putman Fundraiser
Lesli’s medical issues began on February 7th, 2019 when she was admitted to the ER with extensive bleeding. After having an emergency hysterectomy a week later, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Uterine Leiomyosarcoma (LMS), a rare and aggressive cancer.
She has started chemotherapy treatments, and is doing everything she can to beat this thing.
Her prognosis is that there is a high probability of recurrence within 2-3 years, and if it does come back there is no cure. Radiation therapy might slow it down, but on average, people only live for 6 months. There are some promising clinical trials, however it is too early to tell if they are actually an effective treatment.
Aside from dealing with this recent diagnosis, Lesli is an incredible mother to her beautiful 18-month-old daughter Sterling. Lesli is at once fighting for her life and raising a child; all the while trying to make the ends meet. She is currently on long-term disability, but only receives a portion of her usual salary.
Lesli’s main concern is being able to be a wonderful mother to Sterling, and sharing whatever amount of time she has left in her life with her. I would like to support her in her journey by helping to raise money for her medical bills, and her daily expenses--so that her mind can focus on healing and enjoying her time with her daughter.
Lesli and Sterling would be eternally grateful for whatever you can contribute towards their fund.
Below is a summary of her experience:
On February 7th, 2019, Lesli was admitted to the urgent care with extensive vaginal bleeding. She was initially diagnosed with a large non-malignant uterine fibroid, but after a week of repeated episodes of bleeding, ER visits, a biopsy and exams, She was admitted to the hospital on February 13th after what was supposed to be an appointment with an oncologist to assess and schedule surgery however during the appointment she began heavily bleeding again. The doctor immediately ordered a hysterectomy for the following day. During the surgery, they were able to remove all of the masses and uterus, but they also found that bladder was wrapped around the tumor. They tore it getting the tumor out and had to medically solder her bladder back together. She spent the next few days recovering in the hospital and was released on February 18th to go home to recover while waiting for the results of the biopsy. On February 27th, 2019, she found out that she has Stage 2 Uterine Leiomyosarcoma (LMS), a rare and aggressive cancer. A LMS may develop in approximately one to five out of every 1,000 women with fibroids. Despite complete surgical removal and best available treatments, approximately 70% of patients will develop a recurrence within an average of 8 to 16 months after the initial diagnosis. Recurrent uterine LMS is difficult to manage. Currently the only accepted treatment is radiation with recurrent LMS however it is not a cure and will possibly only give the patient a bit longer to live. The 5-year survival rate is only 50% with patients whose tumor is confined to the uterus, but Lesli’s cancer was found outside the uterus. Women with uterine LMS that has spread beyond the uterus and cervix have an extremely poor prognosis. Thus far, the doctors believe they were able to remove all of the cancer, but her chance of recurrence is high, so she opted to begin chemotherapy on March 19th, 2019 with possible radiation to follow. Her prognosis is that it will possibly reoccur within 2-3 years and if it does come back there is no cure. Radiation therapy might help reduce its size or slow it down, but, on average, people sadly only live for 6 months.
If you are interested in following her journey, please follow the link below to her Caring Bridge website where she will keep family and friends informed of updates to her treatment and health.
Many thanks to Laura Naughton -- your words, "nailed it," so we used them for this campaign. Thank you.