Mary’s Story

Site created on December 2, 2021

Mary was diagnosed with Bile Duct Cancer a few months ago. She's been in and out of the hospital since that time but is now back at home, and she has not yet begun cancer treatment due to her fragile health status. She's quite ill and her husband has been primarily responsible for taking care of her. She has a feeding tube and a drainage tube and it's still unclear as to how long this will be needed.  I believe she may have other tubes but I'm not entirely sure (it's not her favorite topic of conversation).  My goal is to support Mary and her family for as long as they need it, in any way I'm able, and I'm going to need lots of help with this. As most of you know, my sister, Michele (Belle), passed away from cancer nearly two years ago on January 26'th, and if weren't for the love and support of family and friends I'm not sure how any of us would have gotten through it.  I honestly believe that the huge outpouring of love and support from everyone helped to prolong and improve her quality of life and I am forever grateful for this, I want the same for Mary and her family. 

Newest Update

January 1, 2022

Journal entry by Sandy Kochman —

Hi All,
Mary is finally home and on the road to recovery. She needs lots of rest and support so she can heal and then she’ll be able to start cancer treatment (the sooner the better). It’d be great if we could organize some sort of weekly meal delivery from her friends and family where folks sign up for a day of the week and then drop off a meal for the family (no contact delivery please). They also need assistance with lodging when her family have to travel to visit her at Sloan Kettering (maybe donations to Airbnb?). Finally, it’d be awesome if we could get a weekly massage for Mary, maybe one of you is licensed or knows someone who is….(female please). 

As an aside, I FaceTimed with Mary today and she was very optimistic and looked gorgeous, (as usual, shocker!!!) but she’s super tired and doesn’t have much energy so please don’t be offended if you don’t receive a response from her.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions, or would like to help out in some way. ❤️Sandy 801.664.4834 or sondrakoch@hotmail.com

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