Nicole Morin, age thirty eight, has recently been told there is a growing mass in her brain. For the past two years, Nicole hasn’t felt physically well. She was experiencing frequent headaches, unusual swelling and growth in her face, hands and feet along with greater fatigue. She had several episodes that put her in the ER and follow up doctor visits without any answers. It wasn’t until symptoms became more severe, with drastic changes in blood work, that Nicole was referred to an endocrinologist who recommended a brain MRI. After two years of frustration, pain and stress, the MRI showed Nicole’s problems were due to a large growing mass in her brain. Nicole and her husband met with a Neurosurgeon who informed her the mass would need to be removed immediately. The large enhancing mass is resting on her pituitary, optic nerve and major blood vessels; without removing it, the mass will continue to grow. Although it is high-risk, surgical removal is Nicole’s only option for survival.
As a coworker with Nicole, I have heard her talk about her family whom she loves very much. She was working two jobs to make ends meet for them. Along with her husband, Nicole has two wonderful daughters, ages eleven and seventeen, with the older daughter needing extra care due to special needs. Even with chronic pain, and the stress of taking on the central role as provider and caretaker for her family, Nicole has been nothing but pleasant to work with. She is kind, thoughtful and gives one hundred percent of herself with a smile. With increasing health concerns, Nicole had to make a change and recently left one of her jobs. She was a school monitor and lunch service provider for many years at Cedar Creek Elementary School in East Bethel. She mentioned how sad she was to leave and how much she loved working with school children. Currently she works full time at Gatherwell, a Covid testing facility.
Nicole has been informed she will have an approximate one week inpatient recovery post-surgery, and one month to recover at home prior to returning to work. This time frame could be extended if the surgeon is unable to remove one hundred percent of the tumor. Potentially, with the tumors high-risk location, it will not be possible to remove it entirely. In that scenario, Nicole would be looking at more required time off work with radiation and other therapies to eradicate what is left of the brain tumor.
Nicole’s surgery at Fairview Southdale hospital is scheduled on October 8th of this year, only a few weeks away. If you are able, please help Nicole with your prayers and donations that will help her family through this tough time of uncertainty and financial hardship. It is unknown the journey Nicole will be faced with if the surgery is unsuccessful. We all would appreciate greatly any help you could offer a kind person like Nicole Morin in her time of need. On behalf of the Morin family, we thank you for your time, prayers and contributions. To donate, Venmo Nicole directly at Nicole-Morin-36 or via Go Fund Me at:
https://gofund.me/23f2dbdb 
