Tracy Sim, Times-Chronicle
A local mom, dancer, and massage therapist with a rare brain cancer is inspiring not just her family, but the community of Oliver too.
We had the opportunity to speak with Andrea, Lorenzo, and their son, Massimo Furlan, who is eight years old, over a phone call on Sunday afternoon. It is hard to fathom the circumstances Andrea’s diagnosis brings, but their collective courage is a story for everyone.
Lorenzo and Andrea both told stories of receiving gifts from people they don’t know. On Saturday, March 5, Oliver Eats is hosting a benefit soup sale with proceeds going to the Furlans. And there will be a benefit dinner in the Firehall Brewery in Oliver on March 11, with another benefit at Savvios Restaurant to follow later. And the kids from Massimo’s class who all broke open their piggy banks to give them what money they had, delivered to their door with parents in tow, all expressing how sorry they are.
Andrea breaks down for a moment, completely taken by the kindness of children and many others in the community. Both are very affected by this outpouring of support.
Lorenzo remembers that Andrea has always been a very high energy person. The comment brought some levity. He explains that Andrea has had to meet a lot of medical challenges. Their journey together has included needed surgeries every two to three years to combat fast growing bones in areas like the jaw and eye sockets.
Yet, Andrea managed throughout her life to be a successful and professional dancer. She is from the Brandon, Manitoba area and excelled in dance early and throughout her life. Dance was her passion as a young girl as she was trained in classical ballet. At the age of 16, Andrea was performing with the famed Royal Winnipeg Ballet. When she got a little older, Andrea transitioned into modern dance and made a primary income from it in the Vancouver area.
“Now she hits the wall very quickly”, Lorenzo says.
We asked how this all started. She says, “about two years ago, something in the right frontal area of my head felt off.” An MRI showed a large bone growth inside and outside the skull in this area. Andrea underwent craniotomy surgery to have the bone mass removed and a portion of her skull replaced.
The recovery time from this surgery was expected to be about eight months. Andrea had fairly bad headaches throughout this time and when it continued past her recovery window they went back to emergency and doctors discovered she had a brain tissue tumour in the same area of the previous surgery that wasn’t detectable during the last surgery.
In Kelowna, her neurologist had her undergo another brain surgery within a week to have the tumour removed. The tumour’s pathology result was stage four Glioblastoma. Similar to sarcoma cancers of the soft tissues, these cancer types are known for their invasive, tentacle-like reaches throughout the body. This all happened the first week of October, 2021. The tumour’s pathology also resulted in a sharper diagnosis of a genetic disorder, called PIK3CA, caused by a gene mutation.
Andrea and Lorenzo paused, making it clear they aren’t seeking or even wanting special treatment from anyone because of the circumstance they find themselves in. They spend time thinking of others and remembering we all have struggles and bad things that happen to us and theirs is no different. Lorenzo says, “we play the cards we’ve been dealt. It is what it is, we deal with stuff. Whatever you feel is going bad in your life, it’s all relevant.”
In November and December 2021, the family moved to a hotel in Kelowna to support Andrea through a 5/23 schedule of chimo, a more aggressive form of chemotherapy where you receive five days of a higher dose of chemo followed by 23 days recovery. They enjoyed the time together and shopping in Kelowna prior to Christmas. This month, in March, a new series of brain scans will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the treatment before determining any further course of action.
They kept Massimo home from school so they didn’t risk infecting Andrea. About the home-schooling experience, Lorenzo said, “we’re terrible teachers, it’s time for him to go back to school.”
Their community of friends is responsible for setting up their GoFundMe page, Lorenzo said. They both didn’t want it, feeling it was their battle to fight. They’re both volunteers, community people, who don’t ask for things, but the help just seemed to appear for them without asking. Reluctantly, they agreed to the help that has come their way. As all the appointments and surgeries resulted in loss of income, they are both extremely grateful and proud to be members of the community of Oliver that they both chose to be a part of.
