A Delta family is asking for the community’s help for lifesaving treatment for a young woman bravely fighting a malignant brain tumour.
Tashina Janus, 23, was diagnosed with an astrocytoma and her oncologist recommended a consultation with a specialist in neuro-oncology at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco. Her family is hoping she’ll receive special immunotherapy treatment there for her type of brain tumour, a treatment not available in this country.
“Right now she’s doing OK but it’s one of those things that out of the blue it can just explode and start moving its tentacles around and create havoc in the brain. She’s had major surgery and a portion of that tumour has been removed but they couldn’t get everything. We’re hoping to have that further treated and removed,” her sister Soraya Janus told the Optimist this week.
During Thanksgiving 2016, Tashina had a grand mal seizure without warning. She was sent for a CT scan, and shortly after she was taken in for surgery due to a brain tumour that was found. Tashina underwent a seven-hour procedure at VGH within days.
Because not all the tumour could be removed, and she isn’t a candidate for radiation or chemotherapy, Tashina is at risk of the tumour regrowing, increasing the risk of severe seizures which could lead to her death.
Soraya says Tashina suffers from frequent migraines and fatigue. Due to the invasive nature of her surgery, Tashina experiences facial numbness, pain along the incision line, hair loss, and soft spots in along her scalp. The titanium plates used to reconstruct her skull after surgery are a cause of great discomfort in her daily life.
Despite this, Tashina is active within the community, working two jobs with autistic adults and children, and finishing her studies at Langara, a GoFundMe page for Tashina states, adding that she strives daily to move past her experiences with cancer and to build a sense of normalcy and positivity in her life.
“Tashina could be sent for her consult in California as early as November. Tashina is my little sister, and I hope and pray for nothing more in life than her to be able to live a long, and pain free life. On behalf of Tashina and my family, I would be so grateful for any assistance you can offer to help us to get Tashina the treatment that she desperately needs,” says Soraya on the GoFundMe page called Save Tashina’s Brain!
The page was set up last week and raised, so far, around $7,000 toward an $80,000 fundraising goal.
To contribute or learn more about Tashina’s story, the GoFundMe page can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/savetashinasbrain
