Everyone tends to take for granted those things we assume we can depend upon; like our good health. In that, Adrianna Mogollon of Flower Mound was just like the rest of us—until October 2013.
Mogollon is an energetic, popular hometown girl. The Marcus High School grad, where she was a member of the track and field team, is currently a business and marketing student at University of North Texas.
The busy 21-year old is in constant motion—an athletic, pretty blur-of-motion young woman. Like most people her age, she’s a multi-tasker; focused on many goals she wants to achieve.
But last October, things began to change.
“I started feeling a tingling in my legs and it got to a point that I went to see my regular doctor,” said Mogollon. “She gave me some medicine for the pain and suggested I go see a chiropractor to get an adjustment, which I did. It was suggested that I give things a couple of weeks to see if things improved.”
Two weeks later, not only had her leg problems not improved, he arms had also begun to tingle and lose feeling.
“I went to the emergency room on November 16 and they did an MRI on my spine and sent me home,” said Mogollon. “By November 18th I was told I had a tumor on by seventh vertbra and had emergency surgery.”
Her recovery time was listed as being up to four months, but she was up and able to walk in four days. She spent six days in the hospital before being sent home.
Mogollon was originally told that her tumor was a sarcoma (bone cancer). Her postoperative result was sent to MD Anderson in Houston where it was diagnosed as a melanoma. Because of the discrepancy, her tumor sample was sent from Texas Presbyterian to a hospital in California and then on to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Finally, MD Anderson returned a diagnosis of high-grade sarcoma—fast-growing bone cancer. She had a follow-up surgery on Feb. 13 to remove more of the tumor and is scheduled to return for a re-assessment in March for a final diagnosis prior to the start of chemotherapy and radiation.
While the past five months have been like a horrible dream, the fact that she was uninsured turned the situation into a nightmare.
“I was so busy and even though my dad had sent me all the papers to fill out, I just didn’t take the time to do it and send them in,” said Mogollon. “He’s been an insurance agent forever and yet here I am thinking I’m perfectly healthy, so what’s the rush?”
When her father learned she wasn’t on either her mother’s insurance policy, covered by a student policy through UNT or under an individual policy, his heart sank.
“Thanks to the new restriction on not insuring [people] for pre-existing conditions, Adrianna now has good coverage through Blue Cross-Blue Shield,” said her father, Louis Mogollon. “Unfortunately, she has pre-existing medical costs and will have some added costs for treatments not covered by her policy.”
While she was actively engaged in her battle with cancer, her friends and family were busy keeping her Facebook page up-to-date and creating a donation site to help offset her increasing medical costs.
“One of my best friends, Carly Wentling and her parents [Ron and Jill] spent so much time working on this for me,” said Mogollon. “I don’t know how I’ll ever thank them enough for their help. My friends have made all the difference for me going through this.”
Those wanting to help Adrianna in her fight can donate at any Chase Bank to the Adrianna Mogollon Cancer Fund or online here. Additional information and updates on her progress is also available at that website.
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