Isadora's Story with the Disease

When Isadora was first diagnosed in mid-October of 2013, her cancer had already metastasized outside the liver. There were no surgical options due to the location of the tumors. Sadly, her prognosis was terminal and she was given anywhere from three weeks to five months of time. Isadora had allowed doctors to take extra tissue and fluid samples during her initial biopsy surgery to use for research purposes in the hopes that others with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma will be helped in the future.

Two weeks later, Isadora endured one round of chemotherapy but experienced so many of its negative side effects that she did not continue with it. Since chemotherapy is not an effective treatment for this cancer anyway, she decided that her quality of life overruled its continued use. Isadora then turned to alternative natural methods of treatment which alleviated her pain and kept her hopeful until her final days.

Isadora loved her family and friends so deeply that it is not surprising that she continued to live for five months. She loved her life and fought for it. Her family is very grateful to all those who enriched her happiness with friendship and love at any time during her life.

The sadness of this disease continues in those still living who miss her beautiful smile and kind heart. Very little funding has been given to understanding fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma. One of Isadora’s legacies will be to see that this lack of information changes by providing funding for desperately needed research, treatment options, and a cure for not only this cancer, but all cancers. Nearly fourteen million people worldwide receive a diagnosis of some form of cancer each year. Eight million people die from it each year. It is an epidemic that affects everyone in some way and it must be stopped.