Help Shannon Kick Cancer for Good
Fundraising campaign by
Aaron Trachtenberg
-
CA$43,928Donated So Far
The campaign owner has stopped the page from accepting further donations. Please contact them if you'd still like to donate
Campaign Story
Shannon Gray is a 27 year old Registered Nurse who has spent the first year of a promising career unable to work while fighting Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After weeks of feeling short of breath, a chest x-ray and CT scan revealed a cantaloupe-sized mass growing in her chest, invading into her lung. This was in November 2016, the same day she received her nursing license in the mail. She underwent invasive diagnostic procedures which ultimately confirmed her fears that she was battling an aggressive form of cancer.
Despite the shocking news, Shannon met this challenge with a positive attitude and was hopeful, being quoted 80-85% cure rates. She endured 6 cycles of intense chemotherapy over the winter, and fought through the numerous side effects that come along with it. Shannon even had the pleasure of ringing in the new year in the hospital due to an episode of febrile neutropenia. Although this period took a toll on Shannon and her loved ones, throughout all of this she could still be seen smiling, playing with every animal in sight, skating circles around her boyfriend, and beating him repeatedly at (some very close) ping pong games. Headscarves became the new thing to spend hours in front of the mirror fretting over, and yoga provided a temporary escape. In April 2017 she was feeling ready to move on from this chapter and resume her career as a Registered Nurse, hoping to give back to the field of oncology which had helped her.
Unfortunately, cancer had other plans, and her first post-treatment scan on May 4 showed growth of the mass when compared with the midway scan. For whatever reason this means she did not respond to the chemotherapy as hoped. She is now considered refractory lymphoma and has been started urgently on so-called "salvage" chemotherapy with the hopes to get her to an autologous stem cell transplant. This chemotherapy is much harder on Shannon's system, and the stem cell transplant will require her to be admitted to the hospital for up to a month in isolation. While Shannon and the medical team remain optimistic and hopeful, the situation has become much more serious than previously thought. "Doing this on her own" has been a source of pride for Shannon, but the circumstances have reached the point where support from others would help make a significant improvement in her life.
Shannon worked extremely hard to become a RN, graduating with honours and winning the award for highest clinical grade during her surgical rotation. While pursuing her studies, Shannon accumulated significant student debt which keeps growing while she is unable to work. She has been forced to relocate between Calgary and Winnipeg multiple times due to changes in her medical situation, while various other unforeseen expenses have popped up and continue to accumulate. Members of her immediate support network have also taken time off work to be with her through this. Shannon is still many months away from being in a position where she can resume working as a nurse, a goal which keeps her motivated every day.
Any financial support would give Shannon some breathing room and allow her to get back to some semblance of normal life. She refuses to let this illness define her, and still has goals she wants to achieve and places she hopes to see. Any support you can provide, either by donating, sharing this campaign, or both can be considered an investment in a caring, compassionate person who always puts others ahead of herself and will be paid forward with interest when she is back on her feet doing what she does best: helping others.
Fundraising Team
- Aaron Trachtenberg
- Partner
- Winnipeg, CA
- Ashley Henderson
- Friend
- Winnipeg, CA
- Daniellle Nix
- Friend
- Winnipeg, CA
Donors
- Jennifer Trachtenberg
- Donated on Aug 01, 2017
My thoughts are with you, Shannon! Wishing you well. xo Jenn
- Anonymous
- Donated on Jul 24, 2017
Update #3
Update posted by Aaron Trachtenberg at 11:48 pmWe are sorry it has been so long since the last update. We have not had any good news to share, until now. Shannon completed 5 weeks of radiation therapy in the summer but unfortunately during that time the lymphoma spread to several other sites in her body. This was. . . . .
Update #2
Update posted by Aaron Trachtenberg at 08:49 pmHi everyone,We wanted to give all of Shannon's supporters a brief update. Unfortunately the new chemotherapy regimen did not work as we had all hoped. This means the stem cell transplant with her own cells is no longer the best option. She has started daily radiation therapy Monday-Friday for the. . . . .
Thank you
Update posted by Aaron Trachtenberg at 07:13 pmThank you all for your generous donations!Shannon and I have been completely overwhelmed with the amount of love, support and well wishes everyone has shown her through this site. We are both extremely fortunate to have such wonderful people in our lives rooting for her during this challenging time. We. . . . .
Donors & Comments
- Donna Cram
- Donated on Aug 16, 2017
Sending our very best wishes for both your physical and mental strength through this challenging journey Shannon. You are such a beautiful and strong young lady...just like your mom! I am an 'old' (retired) work friend of your mom's and wish you all the very very best so you can overcome and kick this cancer once and for all! You have such an amazing support group to help keep your spirits up and helping you BELIEVE....you can do it!! You are loved and cherished by so many.
- Jennifer Trachtenberg
- Donated on Aug 01, 2017
My thoughts are with you, Shannon! Wishing you well. xo Jenn
- Anonymous
- Donated on Jul 24, 2017
- Anonymous
- Donated on Jul 21, 2017
Shannon, I don't know you, though I worked with your boyfriend for a short time at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. It's been through him that I've seen these updates posted on Facebook, and have often had you in my thoughts. We're around the same age, and although I cannot even begin (IN ANY WAY) to imagine what you're going through, I've had some dark times after a sudden implode of my family when my mother passed away due to depression. There are a few quotes that brought me through the darkness and in spite of never having met you, I feel would appeal to the fiery spirit it must take to endure what you are. I don't know what your energy is like- if you're able to read- but Brave Enough by Cheryl Strayed is one of my favourite books, and one I've turned to many times. I hope that some of these quotes resonate you and let you know that you've touched people you've never met (like me) and remind them to be appreciative, strong, and brave. I'm not religious, but I'm sending any positivity I can to you, am sending prayers to those I have lost, and am keeping you in my thoughts as you rage against this illness. “I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me.” - Wild “That place of true healing is a fierce place. It’s a giant place. It’s a place of monstrous beauty and endless dark and glimmering light. And you have to work really, really, really hard to get there, but you can do it.” ― Cheryl Strayed “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- Krista Lees
- Donated on Jul 21, 2017
- Kely Carpick
- Donated on Jul 20, 2017
You are so strong, love you Shan <3
- Anonymous
- Donated on Jun 21, 2017
We wish you a speedy recovery
- Nigar Gahramanova
- Donated on Jun 18, 2017
Dear Shannon and Aaron, Wishing Shannon a speedy recovery and sending good vibes your way from London! My thoughts are with you. Lots of love, Nigar x
- Anonymous
- Donated on Jun 15, 2017
- Anonymous
- Donated on Jun 12, 2017
Sending our very best wishes for both your physical and mental strength through this challenging journey Shannon. You are such a beautiful and strong young lady...just like your mom! I am an 'old' (retired) work friend of your mom's and wish you all the very very best so you can overcome and kick this cancer once and for all! You have such an amazing support group to help keep your spirits up and helping you BELIEVE....you can do it!! You are loved and cherished by so many.