"A Speed Bump"

Maria was admitted to the hospital oncology unit on Sunday. After reporting a high fever and body chills at 2:30 AM the night before, her doctors required her to visit the infusion room for blood and urine tests. With a fever as high as 104, shortness of breath, blood pressure dropping from seated to standing, a 10+ pain level in her leg, dehydration, anemia, and dangerously low white and red blood cell counts, suspecting an infection, but unable to pinpoint exactly what type, they admitted her immediately.

Today was her first full day at the hospital and she and Ron, her husband, say, "This is a speed bump along this road that came to tell us to slow down and that [Maria's] broken down body has a long way to come to recover."

The doctor's confirmed there is an infection stating they are waiting for culture tests to confirm the type and taking more blood for testing to boot.

Maria received three units of blood through Sunday night and this morning along with other fluids and general antibiotics. She says she feels better and stronger, but the pain in her leg persists at the same level as before.

The pain in her leg started baring it's ugly head mid-week last week. It came on strong and hasn't let up. Suspecting a blood clot, Ron and her daughter, Monica, took her to get an ultrasound and were very relieved to find out that was not the issue. However, this left the culprit up in the air and the fact that it is still unknown is unnerving for everyone.

Please pray for Maria and have her in all of your positive thoughts. She needs a quick recovery and has been given doses of medicine that is supposed to catalyze splitting/duplication of white blood cells, the good guys that fight infection. In the words of the infusion room nurse, "Maria has nothing left to fight any bug of any sort. The chemo treatments have left her body helpless and we need to get on this right away."

Today, Maria's doctor sincerely thanked her for waking her up at 2:30 AM on a Sunday night verifying that if she would have waited longer, this 'speed bump' would have been quite larger.

Thank you for your support in these trying times. Hospital bills and ultrasounds mean for more bills and up front costs. Please pass this plea on to anyone you know would be interested in donating to this cause. The donation button is on the upper right corner of this page under Maria and Ron's photo.

Please write help4maria@yahoo.com with any questions and follow her progress on Help4Maria on facebook as well.

Accountant Here Reporting

Hello everyone!

Thank you for following the blog and for your comments at the end of the blogs. I know my mom really enjoys reading them. Please don't forget she is on facebook and we also have a page for the cancer journey called Help4Maria on facebook...

Monica, Maria's daughter, here.

We had a wonderful fundraising drive earlier this year and appreciate everyone's efforts. With all the appointments and the state of my mother's health it is difficult for my father, Ron, to find a job that would be understanding of the time off required and him calling in to stay home with mom. Not to mention the fact that he is on a work-trade agreement with his landlord to get a discounted rate on rent.

What will help us now is for you all to continue praying and sending positive thoughts mom's way and to follow through with any fundraising ideas you've had... For instance with the help of a few friends, I am setting in motion a pancake breakfast, a 5K run and a spaghetti feed here in Reno.

Please comment to the post with ideas for fundraising and what is working well and not working so well for you. Together, we can raise the funds needed!! Goal: $60K

Surgery is a go!

To everyone who has called, emailed, facebooked, texted, donated, prayed and focused ultra-good vibes Maria's way during the past few days:

As you know, our out-of-pocket expenses for care must be paid up front. We now have enough money to pay for mom's surgery and lock it on the schedule for Thursday! Not a moment too soon as she's still in a lot of pain and discomfort.

Any extra funds contributed from now on will be applied to fees related to mom's post-op recovery, such as a daily epidural to numb the pain while she heals, and her chemotherapy treatments to come.

The last few days have been a frantic race against time to raise enough money just to get mom's treatment process started. This surgery is the first step in mom's battle. She has a long road ahead of her and we will back her up every step of the way. All of your thoughts, prayers and support are invaluable to our family in this time of crisis. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

With your help, we've gained a strong start. Now we have a little bit of breathing room and time to focus on the next steps in fund raising for the out-of-pocket fees we face down the road. We have some awesome creative ideas for raising money in the near future: A motorcycle poker-run and 5K race here in Reno, a variety dinner show, Karaoke tournaments, a benefit dance-a-thon in the Coeurd'Alene ID area - just to name a few. It's truly a blessing that many of our friends and relatives are up to the task of creating and producing these events, we couldn't even think of doing this without them. If you have some ideas, please share in the comments or email us.

Please note: Mom's surgery will be on Thursday, May 13 1pm at Renown Medical Center in Reno. The procedure is estimated to take 6 hours at a minimum. Please look for updates after 8pm that evening.

Again, thank you all very very much!

The Reeds
Ron, Maria, Rocky, Casey and Monica

Cruch Time! - lacking funds for urgent surgery

Thank you all who have participated in this blog and over the phone. Your prayers have helped tremendously.

$7926.20 needed by TOMORROW AT NOON and we are at $5250 now.

We realize that some of you are digging deep into your pockets to find funds and that for others they may come easier. Right now we are facing an URGENT deadline to have all of the funds in the bank by Tuesday at noon so mom can have surgery on Thursday. So, please spread the word and guide others to the blog so they can find the account number or please pass it on. Every dollar, large or small, counts!

Why are funds required up front? Why not just go for surgery and pay later?
Mom and dad are fortunate enough to qualify for a discounted medical care program called Access to Health care Network (AHN). It is a network of doctors and health care practitioners who agree to offer their services at tremendous discounts to the Networks patients as long as they pay for all services up front. To put this into perspective, my mom was in the hospital in Concord, NH a couple weeks ago for about 24 hours. The fluid was drained from her belly and she was under supervision afterward to monitor any complications. They just received the bill for this yesterday - $24,000!! Not sure how we are going to pay that one...

Mom's COBRA Insurance ran out about 8 months ago and because of pre-existing conditions, she has not qualified for coverage under any other insurance program. Under the new health care reform, the pre-existing clause doesn't go into effect for adults until 2012 or 2013 - mom was given less than 6 months to live if we do nothing!!

Without AHN the surgery would be about $80,000. With AHN, it is about $8,000! Awesome... but... it must be paid by Tuesday end-of-business and we aren't yet fully funded. PLEASE HELP!!

Any amount you can give, big or small helps.
Kindly Send Donation To:

Help 4 Maria
c/o Delta Pi
P.O. Box 14644
Reno, NV 89503
OR
Donate to Account Number 6123685494 at any Wells Fargo Bank or Wachovia Bank (account holder name: Maria Reed)
OR
e-mail help4maria@yahoo.com for more details, information, to send a message of support and encouragement, etc.

Please Help Maria and Her Family Keep Her Alive and Well!

Due to the nature of mom's condition, there will be ongoing expenses for chemo and other treatments necessary to give her a chance at continuing this life. Any amount in excess of the initial $8K, will be used toward these expenses. Thank you all again for everything!!

Update on Maria:
Ascites is excess fluid in the space between the tissues lining the
abdomen and abdominal organs (the peritoneal cavity). www.google.com/health

Her tummy is so full and tight that she is in moderate to high pain, but the doctor is hesitant to drain it before surgery because of the possibility of infection. She looks 8 months pregnant. She cannot lay down anymore and has moved to the recliner in the living room to alleviate a bit of pain. If we don't have the funds for surgery by Thursday, she may have to get her abdomen drained in a separate proceedure, which would not only subject her to the possibility of infection an extra time but would also end up costing more.
Her spirits are high and her faith is greater than ever. She is so grateful for all of the friends and family that hold her in their prayers and that have helped out financially.