Jenny's oncologist told her that she needed to live her life to the fullest and make as many memories as possible with her family. Most importantly, the money will allow for small family trips and new memories to be made as they cannot afford them on their own. These alternative therapies are proven to be beneficial for cancer patients but are not covered by her insurance, and she will have to pay out of pocket for all of them. Some alternative therapies that her medical team has suggested are acupuncture, lymphatic massages, meditation, etc. The money will also help Jenny to start complimentary alternative therapies to help alleviate pain, discomforts, and stress from cancer/cancer treatment. The money earned from this Gofundme will help to alleviate some of the monthly cost of insurance, treatment, and travel associated with the new cancer treatment. Jenny is still taking steroids and prophylactic antibiotics to manage the reaction, but the reaction put a delay in additional treatment. Unfortunately, after her first immunotherapy in August 2021, she developed a rare and severe reaction to the medication that forced her to be hospitalized for 15 days at City of Hope. Jenny's second treatment was to start immunotherapy (Imfinzi) infusion for the next year. By the end of her first treatment, Jenny was unable to eat and was on a liquid diet due to the burning of her esophagus from the radiation treatment. Jenny completed her first round of treatment, including 8 rounds of chemo and 30 chest/lung radiation sessions in June 2021. The insurance switch was stressful and cost them $870 dollars a month, and that does not include any costs associated with treatment, scans, hospitalizations, etc. Jenny had to switch insurance providers to receive treatment at City of Hope Cancer Hospital. The initial diagnosis was inoperable Stage 3 adenocarcinoma lung cancer. We are hopeful that the second infusion will be tolerated by her body, but if not her team will work on a new treatment plan. Jenny has received one infusion of the new targeted drug but had an infusion reaction and needed to stop halfway through the infusion. Jenny’s oncology team has started Jenny on an FDA approved target drug for her specific gene mutation. Jenny has also had 3 new small brain lesions found on a recent brain MRI, and the lesions are continuing to be monitored by her oncology team. Unfortunately, in May 2023 Jenny’s scan revealed cancer progression and a reoccurrence of the pleural effusion which meant it was time to end the clinical trial medication. The clinical trial drug was able to give Jenny a great quality of life with less daily side effects compared to harsher treatments like chemo. Jenny then went to be approved for a clinical trial for an oral targeted drug for her specific gene mutation (EGFR Exon 20). The aggressive triple medication/chemo regimen was able to reduce the cancer but after Jenny transitioned into a maintenance dose, she began to have cancer progression and the development of pleural effusion (Fluid around the lung). Jenny has continued to receive cancer treatments and received 3 thoracentesis procedures since my first post.
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