Donated wedding helps ease heartache as Staten Island man, 34, undergoes treatment for terminal brain cancer

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Next week, Michelle Narducci-Aubry and Andrew Aubry will rejoice their marriage in entrance of their closest family members and buddies. The highway to tie the knot has been extraordinarily troublesome for the loving couple.

When Narducci-Aubry first noticed Aubry whereas they lived in the identical condo advanced in Westerleigh, she knew he could be crucial individual in her life.

She rapidly performed matchmaker for herself – heading to the identical nook retailer when she noticed Andrew stroll by. And it labored. They struck up a dialog within the retailer in the future and began to spend time collectively within the advanced. One evening, throughout a uncommon celestial occasion, Narducci-Aubry requested Andrew to skywatch together with her.

“Ever since then, we’ve been inseparable,” Narducci-Aubry, 38, stated.

The pair began to this point in 2019 and he proposed Dec. 6, 2020. They moved into a brand new condo collectively in Charleston and commenced to plan their future collectively, beginning with an October 2023 wedding.

But then their world turned the wrong way up when Aubry, 34, suffered a extreme headache six months in the past.

On Feb. 17, Narducci-Aubry rushed Andrew to Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) in Prince’s Bay as a result of he had “the worst headache of his life for the last 24 hours.”

“He had no relief from Motrin 800. And then when he started to projectile vomit and lose his footing, I automatically thought aneurysm and so did he,” she recalled. “So I said to get in the car and we’re driving to the [SIUH] south site and he keeps telling me, ‘If you love me, you’ll take me back to my bed.’ And I said, ‘I love you, that’s why I’m taking you to the hospital.’”

Within 20 minutes of arriving, the hospital offered the outcomes of his CAT scan. Dr. James Kenny sat the couple down and defined why Andrew suffered the headache.

There was a mass in Andrew’s brain the dimensions of a clementine in his basal ganglia and thalamus — the deepest-seated a part of the brain and intensely near his brainstem.

He was rapidly transferred through ambulance to SIUH in Ocean Breeze and began him on an anti-seizure remedy. He stayed within the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) till Feb. 22, and only a few days later, was in main surgical procedure with Dr. Raphael Sacho, who carried out a partial resection and eliminated 70% of the tumor efficiently.

“He only felt pins and needles but he was not paralyzed, no bleeding,” stated Narducci-Aubry. “He was able to speak, no cognitive impairment, thank God. So then I automatically took him directly into the city [Manhattan] once the resection was done because a biopsy was done at the same time. And we were told that it was in fact malignant. So it was cancer.”

Aubry has astrocytoma, a kind of cancer than can happen within the brain or spinal wire. It begins in cells referred to as astrocytes that help nerve cells. Some astrocytomas develop very slowly and others might be aggressive cancers that develop rapidly.

The pair went to NYU Langone in Manhattan the place he obtained six weeks of ordinary of care treatment. But his pathology report got here again that confirmed he has a particular mutation within the tumor in his brain that makes it usually unresponsive to the usual care treatment.

“So in the six weeks of treatment, he actually had a number of setbacks, one of which was hydrocephalus — the accumulation and buildup of cerebral spinal fluid in the brain. Because the tumor was growing so quickly because of that mutation, it closed off one of the ventricles in the brain and it wasn’t allowing it to drain properly,” stated Narducci-Aubry. “So he needed an emergency shunt surgery. Also at NYU. It’s a VP shunt, it’s called, it goes from the brain down his neck and it drains out into his abdomen, and it’s either absorbed or excreted through his urine or bowels. After that, he had to wait two weeks to heal and resumed the rest of the six weeks of treatment.”

The preliminary six-week effort took nearer to 2 and a half months to finish as a consequence of setbacks.

Aubry went for one other MRI a month after his final treatment spherical, however extra dangerous information got here: It confirmed a tumor development of two millimeters. He began one other aggressive, double-dose spherical of chemo.

On Wednesday, Aubry is scheduled for one more take a look at. Those outcomes will decide if Aubry is a candidate for the LiTT process by Dr. Michael Schulder at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, Long Island.

The LiTT process is taken into account minimally invasive and is for inoperable brain tumors. The physician makes a lower than a centimeter incision within the scalp below a guided MRI. They enter a micro-catheter laser instantly into the middle of the tumor, warmth the laser, and kill the tumor from the within out.

The restoration time lasts about two weeks. But there are dangers to the surgical procedure. Swelling and bleeding may happen, or much more excessive, Aubry may develop into paralyzed.

“We’re going to try to get our honeymoon in before the LiTT procedure. If not, he’ll get the LiTT procedure done and then you know, months down the road, we’ll take it as it goes. But unfortunately, the cancer is terminal,” Narducci-Aubry stated. “It will always come back and it will be the cause of death for Andrew.”

A GoFundMe has been created to help with expenses for the couple.

Narducci-Aubry needed to depart her job as a phlebotomist to care for Aubry full-time.

Aubry remains to be in a position to stroll and is present process occupational and bodily remedy as soon as every week. But he neglects his proper aspect of the physique as a result of tumor development in his brain. His short-term reminiscence can also be non-existent, Narducci-Aubry stated.

“I repeat myself all day every day,” she stated. “He leaves lights on, he leaves water running. He gets confused. He’ll start a task but never finish it. I’ll walk into the bedroom and I’ll find him just standing there and I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ And he’s like, ‘Nothing just standing here.’ and I’m like, ‘Okay.’ And he knows this. He knows that his cognitive – he’s impaired. And he is not taking it well at all. He’s very hard on himself. He suffers terribly with depression, and he’s very, very scared. He tells me every day, ‘I’m scared. I’m scared to die.’ And every day he apologizes to me.”

WISH UPON A WEDDING

Narducci-Aubry defined that, in February, Andrew was given 12 to fifteen months to reside. A month later, the couple was married by their buddy on March 23 of their condo.

They’re celebrating their love along with a wedding ceremony and reception on Sunday, Aug. 14.

Their dream wedding will likely be granted by the non-profit, Wish Upon a Wedding, which supplies weddings and vow renewals to {couples} going through terminal sickness or life-altering well being circumstances. It helps alleviate the monetary burden and time dedication that planning a wedding entails, focusing as an alternative on coping with their therapies and spending time with their family members.

Narducci-Aubry will look radiant in her dream wedding robe from David’s Bridal when she ties the knot together with her husband (once more!) on Sunday on the grounds of Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Livingston, with a reception to comply with. Boulevard Cleaners 2 on Amboy Road in Pleasant Plains is offering a free tuxedo and alterations to Aubry for the large day.

Relish will cater the wedding and Palermo Bakery in New Jersey is donating the wedding cake.

“It’s definitely gonna be a much more beautiful wedding than the one that we were able to afford ourselves [when planning] back in May so we’re very grateful,” she stated.

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