MANITOULIN—In an effort to support a family member who is battling cancer for a second time, a GoFundMe fundraising campaign has been organized by Diana St. Pierre.
“Amy (Harper) is my first cousin,” said Ms. St. Pierre. “She is the daughter of Glenn and Ruth Harper.”
Ms. St. Pierre explained, “I am fundraising to support our family member, Amy Harper Lapage with her medical bill expenses. Amy grew up on Manitoulin Island and is currently living in New York State. At 37 (four years ago), on Valentine’s Day, Amy had her first diagnosis of stage two breast cancer. After a bilateral mastectomy, chemotherapy and a full hysterectomy, she thought she had beat the battle.”
However, “on April 18 of this year, Amy learned the cancer has spread to her liver,” said Ms. St. Pierre. “The tumour was 12 centimetres and left only 24 percent of the right side. On May 1, she had a portal vein embolization. The hope is to grow and regenerate her liver enough so she can qualify for surgery in order to remove the tumour. This tumour is very aggressive and uncommon.”
“Amy’s medical bills are extremely high,” Ms. St. Pierre told The Expositor. “Her medical bills were pretty high prior to this (second) battle with cancer, but more so this time.” Ms. Lapage is a single parent of two children.
“Unfortunately, there is no cure for this type of cancer,” said Ms. St. Pierre. “Amy will need to go for continuous treatments, travelling hours to and from her specialist.”
“Amy has an amazing team of medical doctors working hard to put together the best treatment plan for her, which we are all very thankful for, but this comes with some hefty medical bills. This fundraiser is to help offset those costs so Amy can focus on her treatment and not stress over medical bills. Every little bit helps!”
“I just wanted to see what we can do to help Amy,” said Ms. St. Pierre. A fundraising goal of $30,000 has been set for the GoFundMe fundraiser, with $1,280 having been raised as of May 11.
