We’ve been wanting to share an update on Molline but honestly had been hoping for a call back, saying the heart wrenching news was delivered to the wrong girl.
Molline has been diagnosed with stage 4 gynecological cancer.
Yes, you read that right, I mean, huh? What? Really? Yes, really.
What follows is the detailed account of what’s transpired over the past 5 months.
On November 22, 2021 Molline checked herself into the ER at Cedars Sinai in LA with a swollen right arm and pain in both her feet. The doctors performed ultrasounds on all extremities, finding three blood clots, one in her right arm (from wrist to armpit) and underneath both feet. She was told the clots were likely from birth control pills and having flown recently multiple times - the diagnosis was DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). She was put on Eliquis (20mg), an oral blood thinner, which was prescribed for 3 months. After a week on that high dose to reduce symptoms she was to reduce to (10mg) at which point new clots arose. This cycle of increasing and reducing dosages happened multiple times creating new clots in both her calves and left ankle. On January 19th, 2022 when being ultra sounded for the left ankle clot she was told she needed to switch to a new blood thinner, Xarelto. All extremity blood clots seemed to subside on this new blood thinner and she thought this was the end of the swelling and pain.
Molline's Apple Watch alerted her that her heart rate had been trending higher than usual for about 12 weeks. She brought this up with a doctor and was told that no, she didn’t need to see a cardiologist and that she was likely experiencing anxiety.
February 21, 2022 she checked herself into the ER late after work for a quick check up, as she was planning to get on a flight for a friend's wedding in the Bahamas two days later and wanted peace of mind. She checked in, experiencing an elevated heart rate (up to 190 at rest) and felt out of shape, thinking maybe it was residual Covid lung from the virus in January? Although, it was certainly not normal for her to get winded after climbing a flight of stairs or jumping on the trampoline with her niece and nephew. With the history of blood clots the doctors conducted an EKG right away, that checked out ok. They then ordered a CT scan of the chest and found a fistful of blood clots in both lungs and two clots in her heart. She had about 8 Pulmonary Embolisms and was admitted into the ICU immediately. Her scan showed tissue damage in her lungs as a result of cut off blood flow due to the lodged clots (luckily your lungs repair themselves). She was administered a heavy IV clot-busting medicine called TPA. They also had her on another blood thinner via IV called Heparin. She did several more echocardiograms to confirm the larger clot in her heart shrunk and would not travel to her lungs or if it did, it would be small enough for her body to process out naturally.
The cardiologists did something called a bubble study which helps to identify potential blood flow problems within the heart. This is a mix of saline and air that is shot into the IV. Normally the lungs will simply filter out the bubbles but if you have a tiny opening between your heart's upper chambers some bubbles will move through that hole to the left side of the heart. This hole or opening is called a PTO (Patent Foramen Ovale) which one in four people have and turns out, Molline is one of them. There didn’t seem to be any need to close this tiny hole, all this means is she shouldn’t be scuba diving deeper than 30 meters. So snorkeling here on out it is!
Four days later, (Feb 24th) her symptoms seemed to be improving and the clots seemed manageable so she was discharged from the hospital and sent home. She was prescribed two new blood thinners, a “bridge” of 30mg Lovenox shots (2x/day in the stomach) for a week while taking Warfarin (an oral pill).
Just two days later, on the 26th her left shin started hurting. She was feeling shooting my pain down the left leg, the webbing between her fingers became dark in color, and the inside of her elbows became tender to the touch. She returned to the ER that night and was admitted again after additional scans confirmed she had developed new blood clots in both elbows and her left leg. After several days of monitoring she almost left the hospital on March 1st but reported new pain in her legs and arms and another ultrasound revealed her clots had gotten worse. Because of her DVT, the first course of action was to place an IVC (inferior vena cava) filter in her aorta to stop more clots from traveling from her legs to her heart and lungs.
After her IVC surgery more medical teams became involved in investigating her case - hematology, pulmonology, rheumatology, cardiology, gynecology, gastrointestinal, and internal medicine. She underwent several more procedures including a stomach/pelvis CT scan, Pap smear, Internal ultrasound, Endoscopy, Colonoscopy, “Pill Cam” (small intestine search)… ultimately resulting in her getting a head to toe PET scan on March 9th. The PET alerted us to multiple lymph nodes of concern and on March 11th they biopsied the largest and most accessible one (2 cm) in her left armpit.
On March 14th, after a CT scan of the brain to rule out risk of aneurysm (Molline’s clots weren’t worsening or improving) she was able to leave the hospital while continuing a much higher dose of Lovenox (blood thinning shots, at 80mg 2x/day in the stomach).
One week later, Molline received the lymph node biopsy results… Metastatic carcinoma, consistent with Mullerian origin.
The origin of the cancer is still unknown - ovaries, fallopian tubes, or uterus. Testing is ongoing to determine the source which will inform the surgical course of action.
The treatment plan is 3 rounds of chemo (3 weeks apart), surgery (which at a minimum will include removing affected lymph nodes), and then 3 more rounds of chemo again 3 weeks apart. She has already undergone her first chemotherapy session (Taxol and Carboplatin). The hope is that the chemo will shrink the lymph nodes and give her body more time to process the clots in her heart and lungs prior to surgery.
Our intention in sharing the details of Molline's diagnosis is that you can get a sense of what this time has been like for her… “confusing, stressful, sad, shocking, bizarre, and painful”.
Molline is determined to beat this! Despite all of the above (and more), she has taken on each treatment, appointment, poke, and prod with her classic brightness, strength, positivity, wit, bravery, and somehow even in beauty - with a grounded focus on what has to be done, one day at a time.
The bills have been adding up fast, and are continuing to pile - between out of pocket costs for all doctor visits, deductibles for long hospital and ICU stays, and prescriptions (blood thinners alone are $1100/month). Then there are the recommended lifestyle changes - including organic food (juicing), and carcinogen-free products (soap, shampoo, cleaning supplies, etc. - necessary but often much more expensive than the alternatives).
As most of you know, Molline is an incredibly talented event planner, unfortunately that industry was hit hard during the pandemic. 2020 to 2022 was a difficult time for work, as it was for others in her profession. Thankfully, Molline found and started a new job in February - yet is still in her probationary period so benefits have not gone into effect (paid sick leave, vacation days, healthcare, dental, etc). The month she spent in the hospital was unpaid.
We’re hoping to alleviate her financial stress so she can focus on staying positive and getting through to a full recovery.
By contributing to support Molline at this time, you will be contributing to her ability to get well.
Any funds raised will go towards her ongoing medical care. We will continue to update you on her journey and progress.
Thank you for your generosity and most importantly, your healing thoughts and prayers.
Love you all! Kiva, Sara, Matthew, Maryann, Juliette, & JohnLuke
Now that I've completed the process of traveling to Germany and providing the blood needed to retrieve my white cells with which the vaccines will be made, I had a month to get through without any treatments before my first injection. We crossed out fingers and hoped nothing would flare up during the in between time.
One thing that goes hand in hand with my vaccine is a treatment called a gamma delta t cell wash. Essentially it marks cancerous cells in my body so that when the vaccine is injected the solution is trained to target those mutated cells and irradicates them faster. It was recommended I do that while I await the vaccine. On the way home from Germany Juliette and I made a pitstop in NY to 1. meet Dr. Chang in person and 2. be administered a gamma delta t cell wash while we wait for the first vaccine to be made. I was worried about being stagnant without treatment so to be offered something in the mean time that could help was fantastic.
Maryann ended up meeting us in NY too! The three of us had a fun time visiting The Plaza Hotel (Maryann's daughters middle name is Eloise), strolled through sunny central park, and trolley rode through time square.
It was a perfect first trip, I'm so lucky to have such great sisters who want to travel and explore with me. We make the most of any situation!
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Molline Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Molline's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.Help Molline Stay Connected to Family and Friends
