Hi, my name is Jamie. I’m creating this fundraiser on behalf of my mother, Judy York. On April 28th, 2025, she was diagnosed with a very rare cancer called Mucinous Adenoid Carcinoma. This is a type of tongue cancer that is very rare, and there are only 3 known cases in the world, and my mama makes the 4th.
On April 28th, she had surgery to remove what was supposed to be a non-cancerous hemangioma. They sent it off to be tested just as a precaution, and she received the results back on May 5th. The results came back that it was, in fact, cancer, and it was a type of cancer that none of the doctors around here were very familiar with. She has already been flown out to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, for a treatment plan. She will be having surgery on June 30th, 2025, once again to remove two-thirds of her tongue, and then she will have 35 radiation treatments over the course of the next 4 months.
This is a very detailed surgery and will require her to stay in Texas until her treatments are complete. They will also have to do a skin graft to rebuild her tongue, and they will have to do a vein graft as well to provide her tongue with blood flow so that it will not die in this process. They will also have to place a tracheostomy so that she will be able to breathe. It is also possible that she will have to be on a feeding tube as well. She will also have to undergo speech therapy to learn how to talk again, and she will have to learn how to swallow again once everything is complete. This is going to be a very long and difficult process.
She lives off of social security and only has that as her source of income. Right now, we are worried about her having somewhere to stay while she undergoes her treatments and recovery in Texas. We are trying to raise funds for flights, housing, and food for her and her husband, Donald. After all treatments are completed, she will continue to have to fly out to Texas every three months for the first year, and then every four months for the second year, and then every year until the five-year mark.
She is not only a mother, but she is a loving wife, and a very loving grandmother and great-grandmother to 10 grandchildren altogether. We love her very much. The doctors are very confident that the surgery will cure her. The only issue we have at the moment is having the funds to relieve the stress of her having a place to stay and food to eat while she and her husband are in Texas so she can concentrate on her healing journey. Please keep her and all of her family in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this journey with her. Anything you can do to help her will be greatly appreciated. Anything collected over the requested amount will go towards her monthly bills, as they will still incur even though she will not be at home. Thank you for taking the time to read about my mama’s journey, and we appreciate anything you can donate and especially your prayers.
