Doctors have told Elena Koontz of Romulus that she has six months to live with her Stage 4 breast cancer, but she wants to stay around to help her seven children grow up.
And, her family, her friends, and her church members are reaching out to help her get a special, personalized gene-targeted cancer therapy in Houston, her last hope for survival. Now, the family is reaching out to strangers, too, to help her survive.
Elena has seven children and she wants to stay alive for them. There are four daughters from her husband Chuck, a stepson from Chuck, and two adopted Guatemalan sons from her first husband, who died of cancer.
Her story was featured on Channel 2 Fox News on Nov. 22 and her church, Metro Baptist in Van Buren Township, held a spaghetti dinner for her last Saturday to raise money for the alternative therapy that offers hope.
“We believe in prayer, that prayer can change things,” Chuck Koontz said in his Channel 2 interview. “Hopefully, Elena will be healed and here for a long, long time.”
Elena has set her hopes on the work of Stanislaw Burzynski, M.D., Ph.D., of Houston, who has been treating and healing cancer patients for 40 years with alternative therapies.
The cost for the extensive gene treatment described as “staggering,” but Elena’s family and friends aren’t giving up.
Her cancer has spread through her bones and liver, but she continues to live an active life, trying to teach the girls how to sew and make bread.
Elena’s daughters are aged 18 months to seven years, and Savannah, 7, wrote a special letter that tells about her mother being sick. The letter is featured on a website www.savemymommy.com where donations are being taken.
Donations also may be sent to: Metro Baptist Church, 47100 I-94 North Service Dr., Belleville 48112, (734) 697-4065.
After reading the letter, Elena said she told the Lord, “You really need to let me live. My girls need me.”
The letter:
Hello,
My name is Savannah. I am seven years old. I have four sisters and two brothers. My youngest sister is Liberty Faith. She’s one. My mommy has 4th stage breast cancer. The doctor at Karmanos told our mom that she has less than six months. I don’t know exactly what that means, but it doesn’t sound very good.
We know that someday our mom will go to Heaven to be with Jesus, but I hope that it will be a long time before she does. She was nursing little Liberty when she had to stop because of her special medicine.
We are all a little sad right now because she’s really sick. She still smiles though and tries to do all the things she used to do. She hugs us and tells us she loves us a lot. She is tired now all the time.
I saw her writing a letter yesterday. She says it’s for us to open when we get older.
My daddy loves my mommy and us a lot too. He says that there is a place down in Texas that helps people who are sick just like mommy. It’s called the Burzynski Clinic. They are very expensive.
I was hoping that if we had enough money, we could take our mom down there and maybe she could get well.
We are taught not to ask for things from people, but we might not have enough money to be able to get her down there in time. So, if God speaks to your heart, would you help us a little? If you can’t then would you please pray for our mom. Thank you,
Savannah.