Help Our Mom Fight a One-in-a-Million Cancer – Chordoma
Our world changed in an instant, and now we’re asking for your help as we face the unthinkable.
For the past three years, our mom, our family’s heart and anchor, has been living with unexplained tailbone pain. She’s seen doctors on and off. She’s had multiple X-rays. But each time, the results came back inconclusive. No answers, just growing discomfort. Then in early 2025, everything escalated.
In February, her pain became nearly unbearable. A CT scan in April offered only partial insight, it didn’t include the tailbone, but it hinted at issues near the L5/S1 joint. We pushed forward, scheduling appointments with a spine surgeon and pain specialist, desperate to find the source. Then, a breakthrough: a pelvic floor provider suggested that something deeper was being missed and was in the process of ordering another CT scan.
But before that CT could even happen, on May 3rd, while walking to the car and kicking a soccer ball with her granddaughter, our mom was struck by a sharp, immobilizing pain. She ended up in the ER, and that’s when our nightmare began.
A CT scan revealed a tumor the size of a baseball pressing against her sacrum. A biopsy followed on May 8th. Finally the results came in on May 19th, we received the devastating diagnosis: Stage 4 Chordoma, a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer that grows on the spine. Only 1 in a million people are diagnosed with a chordoma each year.
Since then, she’s undergone more scans (MRI and CT), and we’ve met with a Orthopedic Surgeon who told us he’s only seen 2–3 chordomas of this type in his entire career, and hers is significantly larger and more complex than any he’s treated. He immediately recommended we seek care at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, one of the few places in the country with real experience and resources for this rare disease.
This surgery will be life-altering. Because of the tumor’s location on her sacrum, surgeons will need to remove a portion of her spine—S3 and lower which includes the nerves from S3 and down. The surgery may last 8–10 hours a day over two days, followed by at least a week of inpatient recovery and months of healing at home.
MD Anderson also offers advanced proton radiation therapy—a treatment not even available in Colorado. In fact, there are only 17 chordoma specialists in the entire United States recognized by the Chordoma Foundation, and Colorado has none. Yet her Medicare Advantage plan does not currently allow treatment outside of the state. We are actively fighting for a gap exception to get her the care she needs—and deserves.
This journey will require:
Multiple out-of-state trips to Houston
3+ days of testing and consults with MD Anderson to start
At least one major hospitalization
Temporary housing in Houston for our mom and dad
Ongoing treatment and follow-up care
Extended time off work
And through all of this—she continues to fight with grace, strength, and courage.
We are asking for help—any amount, big or small, will make a difference in helping us cover travel, lodging, medical expenses not covered by insurance, and the support our mom needs during recovery. If you’re not able to donate, a card or kind message will lift her spirits in ways we can’t describe.
Our mom is not in this fight alone. She has us—and now, hopefully, you—by her side.
Thank you for being part of her journey. Thank you for helping us beat this.
With love and gratitude,
Stone, Jas, & Wiman Family