Help Teresa Beat her Tumor
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Frank Alatorre. My wife Teresa is 37 years young, the strongest person I’ve ever known in every way, and she is my world. We have three beautiful daughters with us here on earth and three baby boys watching over us from heaven. We’ve always done our best to live a simple, healthy and wholesome life centered on raising the girls in faith, love and hard work. Our daughters Jill (13), Megan (11) and Grace (4) continue to be sources of infinite joy (as well as occasional welcomed frustration :)) and I’m starting this GoFundMe primarily for them. Because all children need their mother.
On July 24th around 7pm Teresa had a seizure while our family was eating sushi for dinner. Luckily, I was able to catch her before she fell possibly hitting her head on the dinner table or floor. I immediately got her down on her side and called 911 asking the girls to stay away because I didn’t want them to see their mom in that state. Anyone who has had a loved one go into a seizure can tell you how helpless you feel or how terrifying it can be. I honestly didn’t know if my wife would still be alive in the next five minutes. After about two minutes she stopped convulsing and was breathing more easily. Paramedics arrived about five minutes later and we took her to the local hospital. Initially we thought the seizure could have been some kind of an allergic reaction to the sushi or sun stroke as we had been at the beach for a couple of hours that day. Unfortunately, after about six hours in the ER we were informed that the CT scan had revealed a mass in the posterior right frontal lobe of the brain with a long axis of ~4cm. We received a prescription for Keppra (anti-seizure medication having effects similar to cocaine from what we have read) and drove home to be with the girls as a family. The next day we were able to schedule an emergency MRI (Thank you to our MRI doc for rescheduling to make room for us and Joe for setting it up) where we got a better understanding of what we were dealing with.
We’ve consulted with three local MDs/Neuros regarding different approaches ranging from gamma knife to traditional surgery and in addition a consultation at the UCLA tumor center. Doctors at UCLA are leaning towards open craniotomy to dig in and remove as much of the mass as possible hoping it will not spread or relapse in the future. That being said, there is not a great guarantee of survival and a decent risk of paralysis plus years of being on Keppra which has been very hard on her (read others’ accounts of Keppra if you’re interested in more information, btw we did switch to another prescription as she seemed to be having a reaction to Keppra, swollen tongue, throat, inflammation, rash possible GI bleed etc but that med also had similar results).
Since that time, we are continuing to explore options and saw our seventh (I believe) doctor today who is a specialist in eastern medicine. He came at the recommendation of one of our good friends who has studied eastern medicine for quite a while now. So far this doctor is the first who has given us real hope even if just in the possibility of shrinking the size of the tumor to reduce the risk of seizure. We’re following his nutrition guide right now and have a follow up MRI scheduled in about 3 weeks with a neuro specialist to detect any change in the tumor since the last MRI performed about 2 weeks ago. If eastern medicine doesn’t do the trick we’ll keep working and keep looking.
While every penny of every donation is greatly appreciated and will ONLY go towards Teresa’s health expenses I believe that my family will benefit as much if not more so from thoughts and prayers. So if you come across this post somewhere I ask that you send us your love or say a quick prayer and share our family’s story with someone in your life who the world would miss if they were gone from it. Because, God forbid, if Teresa passes I think as many people as possible should know why the sun isn't quite as bright that day.
We need your Help, Love & Prayers
Thank you & God bless to all
Sincerely: Frank, Teresa, Jillian, Megan, Henry, Isaac, Grace and William
On July 24th around 7pm Teresa had a seizure while our family was eating sushi for dinner. Luckily, I was able to catch her before she fell possibly hitting her head on the dinner table or floor. I immediately got her down on her side and called 911 asking the girls to stay away because I didn’t want them to see their mom in that state. Anyone who has had a loved one go into a seizure can tell you how helpless you feel or how terrifying it can be. I honestly didn’t know if my wife would still be alive in the next five minutes. After about two minutes she stopped convulsing and was breathing more easily. Paramedics arrived about five minutes later and we took her to the local hospital. Initially we thought the seizure could have been some kind of an allergic reaction to the sushi or sun stroke as we had been at the beach for a couple of hours that day. Unfortunately, after about six hours in the ER we were informed that the CT scan had revealed a mass in the posterior right frontal lobe of the brain with a long axis of ~4cm. We received a prescription for Keppra (anti-seizure medication having effects similar to cocaine from what we have read) and drove home to be with the girls as a family. The next day we were able to schedule an emergency MRI (Thank you to our MRI doc for rescheduling to make room for us and Joe for setting it up) where we got a better understanding of what we were dealing with.
We’ve consulted with three local MDs/Neuros regarding different approaches ranging from gamma knife to traditional surgery and in addition a consultation at the UCLA tumor center. Doctors at UCLA are leaning towards open craniotomy to dig in and remove as much of the mass as possible hoping it will not spread or relapse in the future. That being said, there is not a great guarantee of survival and a decent risk of paralysis plus years of being on Keppra which has been very hard on her (read others’ accounts of Keppra if you’re interested in more information, btw we did switch to another prescription as she seemed to be having a reaction to Keppra, swollen tongue, throat, inflammation, rash possible GI bleed etc but that med also had similar results).
Since that time, we are continuing to explore options and saw our seventh (I believe) doctor today who is a specialist in eastern medicine. He came at the recommendation of one of our good friends who has studied eastern medicine for quite a while now. So far this doctor is the first who has given us real hope even if just in the possibility of shrinking the size of the tumor to reduce the risk of seizure. We’re following his nutrition guide right now and have a follow up MRI scheduled in about 3 weeks with a neuro specialist to detect any change in the tumor since the last MRI performed about 2 weeks ago. If eastern medicine doesn’t do the trick we’ll keep working and keep looking.
While every penny of every donation is greatly appreciated and will ONLY go towards Teresa’s health expenses I believe that my family will benefit as much if not more so from thoughts and prayers. So if you come across this post somewhere I ask that you send us your love or say a quick prayer and share our family’s story with someone in your life who the world would miss if they were gone from it. Because, God forbid, if Teresa passes I think as many people as possible should know why the sun isn't quite as bright that day.
We need your Help, Love & Prayers
Thank you & God bless to all
Sincerely: Frank, Teresa, Jillian, Megan, Henry, Isaac, Grace and William
Organizer
Frank Alatorre
Organizer
Camarillo, CA