U.S. ICU costs burning through funding for Quebecer's experimental cancer treatment

A Quebec cancer patient who crowdsourced hundreds of thousands of dollars for an experimental treatment in Texas may not be able to continue it as ICU costs burn through her available funding.

In July, 22-year-old Chambly woman Maria Muscari went to Houston Texas for an experimental cancer treatment after exhausting options in her home country.

The family crowdsourced $350 thousand through their online fundraiser to make the trip and pay for treatment. But just a handful of months later, the family is nearly out of money after an unfortunate turn for the worse in Muscari’s condition.

“On Thanksgiving, she was admitted to the ICU and intubated and heavily sedated, just to give her body and lungs a break,” said her cousin, Katrina Moraitis. “She’s not doing well at all.”

Maria Muscari was diagnosed at 18 years old with Hodgkin's lymphoma. She gave up her nursing studies program at Champlain College to undergo extensive cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

After crowdsourcing the funding, she became the first Canadian to undergo killer cell treatment in an experimental trial at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas. Her family says her condition was improving.

Her family is pleading with the public to pitch in more so they can pay their rising ICU bills.  

“We had the money for the trial, it was in the bank account at MD Anderson,” said Moraitis. “And now, they've taken that money to pay for the ICU bills.”

She says those bills are ringing in at $25 thousand per day.

While medical team is being judicious with the funding – talking to family “every day,” according to Moraitis – there are fears for what happens when the money runs out.

“It’s sad because there is literally a price tag on her life,” said Moraitis. “If she doesn’t get this treatment, she’s going to die.”