'One Shot Left' For Downers Grove Woman Battling Rare Cancer

DOWNERS GROVE, IL — Like all newlyweds, Sean and Casie vowed to stay together for the rest of their lives when they got married in 2015. Now, just four years into their marriage, with Casie, 30, fighting for her life against an incurable type of cancer, all they're hoping for is just a little more time.

According to Sean's mother, Penny, Casie was diagnosed with Burkett's lymphoma following a kidney transplant. The cancer, which has gone into remission in the past, has now progressed to stage four cancer, with tumors attacking Casie's brain and invading her spinal fluid.

Casie's cancer is not curable, which means it has been difficult for the family to find treatment. Penny started a GoFundMe campaign, first to offset the cost of "essentials" and now to help the couple afford a clinical trial that could extend Casie's life. She said Sean watches his wife hour by hour and has been an "emotional rock" for his wife.

"You Realize What Matters Most"

The couple, who met while attending Downers Grove North, have been together since high school and recently celebrated their four-year wedding anniversary.

Penny told Patch that Sean and Casie are a "a very good example of what is really important in life, having each other and staying together no matter what."

"The most difficult moments of life you realize what matters the most," Penny wrote on GoFundMe.

The couple has been sleeping on a couch in their living room, with Sean helping to feed, dress, and care for Casie, Penny said.

"Sean watches her around the clock scared that if he sleeps, she may have issues and pass away while he's sleeping," she wrote.

"They are so committed to each other through anything life throws at them and over the last four to five years it has been a tremendous amount."

"One Shot Left"

Most recently, Casie has been getting chemotherapy injections at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the hope of eliminating the cancer from her spinal fluid within the next three weeks so she can take part in a clinical trial in New York that may extend her life longer than the roughly six months she is expected to live without it.

"They have one shot left at extending her life some additional months, which will require the cancer to be out of her spinal fluid over the next 5 chemotherapy treatments into the port in her head," Penny told Patch. "They cannot cure her, but they may give her more time."

"This clinical trial is the only one in the country at this time for her type of cancer," Penny wrote in an update on GoFundMe. She added, "The next three weeks are critical to [Casie's] survival."

Donated funds will be used to help the couple travel to New York for the treatments.

Visit the GoFundMe page if you'd like to donate to help Casie and Sean.

"If you are in a position to help out Sean & Casie we would be extremely grateful," Penny wrote.

In the meantime, Penny told Patch that "Casie has an entire wall of post it notes of positive wishes and affirmations she reads daily with Sean."

She added, "I am so proud of them for their strength and hope."