Cathy Rucinski
Cathy was diagnosed with Colon cancer in November of 1999. She then had surgery to remove 75% of her colon. She then went on to have four amazing children: Alex 14, Melissa 13, Michael 6, and Isabella 4. In April of 2014 Rob, her husband noticed a yellow tint to her eyes and then asked her if she was feeling alright. She said she had been feeling rundown and not herself. They went to the hospital and had several tests done. The results came back stage 4 Pancreatic cancer. Cathy went to many doctors for second and third opinions in the area, all coming to the same conclusion; to start chemo to attempt to shrink the tumor, hoping to operate to remove the tumor. After months of chemo, her local doctors told her they refused to operate because the tumor remained the same size. She found a doctor in December 2014 who was willing to do the surgery in California. She was in California for a month, missing a Christmas with her kids. Cathy was doing alright, they removed the tumor, but they had to continue chemo to insure they got all cancerous cells. In August of 2015, she lost consciousness on a day out with the family downtown. They rushed her to the hospital, where they ran more tests on her head, only to discover the cancer had spread to her brain. The doctors began chemo and full brain radiation in hopes of shrinking the brain tumors. Much to their dismay, Cathy was informed in the beginning of January she only had about three months to live. Unfortunately, Cathy Rucinski passed away on January 19th, 2016, leaving behind her beloved husband Rob, her four children, and mother Maryanne. Because of Cathy's illness they are struggling financially from countless medical bills. The Rucinski family is very honored to have been selected by the BTB foundation. Thank you. |