Stephanie DesForges became a nurse because she wanted to help people, just as her mother Patricia Marse had in her many years as a registered nurse. It’s exactly what she did, touching the lives of countless patients, including her time on the front line during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to circumstances far beyond her control, DesForges has not been able to continue that work. But several people have stepped forward – and continue to do so – to offer this helper a helping hand as she battles cancer for a fourth time.
A fundraising benefit for DesForges will take place Saturday, Sept. 14, at Bruno’s Freedom Harley Davidson in Baton Rouge, presented by the host location as well as Southern Heritage Car Club. There will be a car, truck, jeep and bike show and a silent auction among other events at the fundraiser, where 100 percent of all proceeds will be presented to DesForges and her family that day. The fundraiser will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Last year, tests revealed DesForges had a large mass on her pelvis, after pain prompted her to seek medical care. It hospitalized her for a week and ultimately part of her abdominal wall had to be removed. She began chemotherapy again.
A PET scan also revealed nodules in her lungs. At first, it seemed like there was no cause for alarm there. But later tests revealed the modules had grown. A biopsy on DesForges’ lungs on March 27 of this year showed the nodules were malignant.
The battle has taken a severe physical toll on her. She has not been able to work as a nurse due to how weakened the illness and treatment has left her, and she along with her family have moved into the home of her parents who have provided care for her.
“They found three spots on her lungs that weren’t there before,” said Marse. “She was so debilitated from the chemo … they took her off of it for four weeks, now she’s back on. Today, she’s really down and out. A week out from (chemotherapy treatment), it’s when she has the worst reaction.”
Despite the situation, DesForges has worked from home selling insurance as she continues her fight.
Marse said her daughter has her good days and bad days, but that the situation has created some especially difficult mental hurdles to clear along with the physical ones.
“This was a really bad day for her,” Marse said.
The side effects of the chemotherapy have caused DesForges to lose forty pounds and experience excruciating pain and discomfort.
DesForges was diagnosed with cancer for the first time just after Mother’s Day of 2014. It was initially diverticulitis that required surgery. She was in and out of the emergency room throughout that summer and the family feared she might not make it – her pain was excruciating and constant, and at one point she developed several blood clots and became septic following abdominal drains.
But once she finally was able to have surgery – she needed to be able to stay out of the hospital for six consecutive weeks for the surgery to be deemed safe enough – it was discovered DesForges was suffering from Stage III colon cancer. She underwent chemotherapy for six months – each session with a family member by her side – and even as she went through it, she continued to work her shifts at work to help her patients.
In 2020, she had to battle the illness for a second time after, in March of that year, she began to feel sharp pain in the same location as her previous cancer and immediately sought medical attention. The news she received was exactly as feared, and she would have to go back on chemotherapy. A CAT scan exposed a golf ball-sized tumor in her pelvis, two lymph nodes, and a biopsy exposed metastatic poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. It was again treated successfully, but the illness returned once again in December of 2022.
After 16 weeks of chemotherapy, a surgery to remove a tumor from her pelvis was successful, but her recovery was challenging. DesForges encountered issues with her intestines, prompting the need for a nasal gastric tube to be inserted to help with digestion. Furthermore, a rapid response team was called when her heart rate spiked above 130, leading to concerns about a potential blood clot in her lung. It wasn’t the case, but she had to be put on IV medications to alleviate swelling in her extremities. She also battled a post-surgery infection after the procedure on her abdomen.
DesForges was on the front line as a nurse at Terrebonne General Medical Center during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. She worked as a registered nurse on the Cardiac Unit at her hospital for over a decade and was known to regularly take on extra shifts to help pay off her 2014 medical expenses, to help put her daughter through school and to provide for her family.
DesForges and her family moved to Luling as she was growing up.
The financial burden of these fights against cancer have been overwhelming for the Luling mother of two and her family. In addition to the fundraiser in Baton Rouge, a GoFundMe fundraiser page is in place to help the family (titled “Miracle fund: Helping Steph DesForges battle cancer round 4”). There is also a fund set up at Capital One bank in Luling for anyone who would like to donate.
