Help Hope Live for Emily Nussdorfer's successful treatment and recovery from Ovarian Cancer
Family and friends of Emily Nussdorfer are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with a Catastrophic Illness. Emily was recently diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer, Stage IIIC, and has just started rounds of chemotherapy. She will eventually need surgery to remove the cancer completely. She is a self-employed EMDR/IFS trauma therapist, mindfulness practitioner, and dance-movement therapist, and derives so much joy in helping people recover from psychological trauma using these modalities. She is currently writing a children’s book about a young girl’s mythic journey to save her village, and how she learns to face her fears and grow her courage and strength with the help of magical allies and guides she is led to on the way. Emily has chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because donations are tax deductible for contributors and will only be used to cover medical and related expenses. Because she is self-employed, her insurance does not cover much of the costs involved in this cancer treatment until she meets a very large out of pocket maximum, and she has high copays. This in turn makes it difficult for her to cover medical expenses and life expenses while going through this, as she will need to work reduced hours, and won’t be able to work at all during the month of surgery and recovery. The money raised willl help Emily to make it through this challenging period when she will need financial support. There are so many ways to give to Emily’s campaign through this program, with corporate or workplace matching as one wonderfully suppportive option, and all are tax deductible.
Updates (2)
May 13, 2025
Update as to my medical status and info about the upcoming May 30th online fundraiser – Help Hope in Action.
First – a HUGE Thank you is in order! I think of all of you who have supported me here at Help Hope Live so often! Because of your amazing generosity I have been able to pay for my supplements, prescriptions, doctor appointments, medical copays, acupuncture before and after chemo to help me manage the effects, and support people to help me in my own home after surgery, while being unable to work. Looking at your names, your generous donations, reading your encouraging notes, both took my breath away, and uplifted me in ways I cannot even begin to describe. You all have helped my spirit keep up the fight! I was hoping to have sent a special thank you to each one of you directly by now, but with managing chemo and work in Jan- early April, and then the surgery and more chemo coming up, I have had less energy than I hoped. Please know first - how grateful I am to each of you, and second - that I will be sending each of you a personal thank you when this is over and my energy fully returns!☀️
Now for the Update! I had abdominal surgery to remove the tumor and surrounding cancerous organs on April 17th and it was very successful! I am incredibly grateful to the surgeon Karen Houk and her awesome surgery team at Fox Chase Cancer Center, and the amazing nurses who took care of me at Temple Main Hospital in Philly. After the surgery, I was whisked away to a beautiful home in Bucks County to convalesce just as spring started to unfurl, and was wonderfully taken care of by beloved friend Karen Dehaven and her husband. However, this is not the end of my ovarian cancer treatment journey. While my surgeon did an amazing job removing the tumor and most of the cancer, there is still a small amount of cancer left. I will need three more rounds of chemo treatments (May 19th, June 9th and June 30th) to completely kill off the remaining cells. I will need to continue eating a high-quality cancer-fighting diet (i.e. organic Mediterranean diet), working with my oncological nutritionist, and taking the researched supplements that she suggests that improve longitudinal outcomes for nonrecurrence of ovarian cancer. After chemo is finished, I will need to get an infusion of a powerful immune drug called Avastin, every three weeks over the course of a year to ensure these cells do not have a chance to regrow, and to improve my chances at non-recurrence.
So we have one last leg of my healing journey to push through that is upcoming - starting this May 19th. Fortunately, Help Hope Live is offering an online fundraising opportunity called Help Hope in Action just as I start this next stage of my healing journey! On May 30th, 2025, all day long, credit card fees of any donation made to my medical fund will be waived so more money can go directly to the fund. Any financial support made to my fund that day will go far and be so greatly appreciated!!! I am attaching a wonderful video the folks at Help Hope Live made for me to promote the reason for my fund and inspire giving on this day. Feel free to share the fundraising link that brought you here, as well as the video with all those you feel would be moved by it. Thank you again, with all of my heart, for your love and support of me!❤️
January 19, 2025
I am overwhelmed at the generosity of all of you who have contributed and so uplifted by your warm wishes and care and kindness to me! I just want you all to know I have a wonderful clinical team supporting me, and a wonderful nutritional oncologist helping me with diet and supplements to mitigate the effects of chemo, and an amazing group of friends helping me out with meals and chores! I feel a level of love I have never felt before in my life, and it is so wonderful to hear from loved ones and friends from so many different parts of my life! I am so grateful to you all! It is so very precious your care and encouragement and love!The chemo is doing its job bringing down the fluid build up in my abdomen and shrinking the tumor. My prognosis is very good according to my clinical team. Your financial support for me right now in this moment, is enabling me to pay for my supplements and unexpected copays that the hospital is requiring before certain procedures that I could not have afforded. I am still working, but my caseload is reduced right now, so I do not have as much income coming in.It takes my breath away, how much you are all helping! I could not do this healing journey without you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Lots of Love and hugs to you all! 💕Emily
Photo Galleries (2)
Guestbook
May 30, 2025
Sending hugs and wishes for a speedy recovery!
Molly Briggs
May 30, 2025
Sending so much love and continued wishes for complete healing! So proud of you!!!!
Rebekka Hartwell
May 30, 2025
Up to now, most of what has ailed us can be cured with a good cry, a nice nap, a glass of wine (or 2), and girl talk. Hoping this contribution ups the ante on your cure. There will always be time for the other things when you are better.
Meg Waldron
