Loveland Ski Area (Colorado) patroller Magdalena was recently diagnosed with Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a form of cancer effecting her brain.
Friends have organized a GoFundMe to help Magdalena pay for her extensive medical bills in fighting the disease.
You can read below about Magdalena and her husband Chris’ (also a Loveland ski patroller) fight against her disease.
Please consider donating if you’re able.
https://www.gofundme.com/static/js/embed.js
Please join us in raising money for Magdalena and Chris Casula to help them fight against cancer and brain disease. Mags was recently diagnosed with Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Her team of Neurologists also discovered a lesion in her brain that has caused severe and progressive inflammation, the cause of which her treatment team believes to be a rare auto-immune disorder (impacting the lymphocytes and brain), or CNS Lymphoma.
Mags and Chris are anxiously awaiting further diagnosis and final pathology results, as the impact of these conditions continues to have a profound impact on their daily lives. Mags has suffered debilitating headaches, visual disturbances and balance and coordination issues as a result of the inflammation in her parietal and occipital lobes. She has been unable to work or enjoy the outdoors for months.
When she is able to return to work it will be part time for an extended period. Chris’s ability to work has been negatively impacted as he essentially functions as her caretaker. Mags has already endured several invasive medical procedures in the past six months – a brain biopsy, multiple lumbar punctures, CT scans and blood work – and a prolonged hospital stay.
Mags will face ongoing treatment in the form of medication, imaging and testing. The cumulative effect of medical bills, missed work and ancillary costs such as gas and hotels is already daunting.
Anyone who knows Mags knows that she has devoted her life to caring for others: patients, family, friends and her (twin) dogs. If you’re reading this there’s a good chance she’s helped or supported you as well, and speaking on a personal note, I can’t even count the days I couldn’t have made it through if not for her maniacal laughter following me down a sketchy single track or her willingness to always listen to me and support me through some of the worst times in my life.
That’s just who Mags is. She and Chris are our family at Loveland and they are part of the much larger family of ski patrollers, first responders and medical professionals.
When someone in our family needs help, we help. Period. Mags is a formidable fighter – whether she’s in the ICU, upping her ski game on Loveland’s 13,000 foot ridge or dusting herself off and getting back on her bike with blood in her hair and bruises on her legs.
If she’s going down, she’s going down swinging (I’ve seen it first hand). But swinging takes energy, physically and mentally. As much as we wish we could, we cannot press a magic button to take away their fear or their pain. But we can push a button and alleviate a huge chunk of the unique kind of anxiety caused by financial stress, and that means something.
Let’s do this right the first time. Any and all donations welcome. Please stay tuned for details of a fundraiser to be held at a location TBD.