In the darkest of times, certain people may find solace in having some time left to prepare for what’s to come.
A mother, who tragically lost her battle with an aggressive illness, was able to leave our world with a last bittersweet farewell.
Casey McIntyre, from Brooklyn, New York, took to her Instagram account to announce her own death on Tuesday (November 14).
The mom-of-one wrote a heartbreaking message to console her loved ones about how she knew how “deeply” she was loved.
After tragically passing away from ovarian cancer on Sunday (November 12), the 38-year-old’s social media page was updated with the devastating note, which features some pictures of herself with her family.
Casey McIntyre, who died of ovarian cancer, announced her own death on Instagram
Image credits: caseyrmcintyre
She wrote: “A note to my friends: if you’re reading this, it means I have passed away.
“I’m so sorry, it’s horsesh*** and we both know it.
“The cause was a recurrence of my previously diagnosed stage four ovarian cancer.
“I loved each and every one of you with my whole heart and I promise you, I knew how deeply I was loved.
“The five months in home hospice that I got to spend with my family and friends in Virginia, Rhode Island, and New York were magical.”
"A note to my friends: if you're reading this it means I have passed away," the woman's post began
Image credits: caseyrmcintyre
A grievous editor’s note, which appeared to have been written by Andrew Gregory, Casey’s husband, was added to her initial message.
It read: “Casey meant to finish this post with a list of things that were a comfort & a joy to her during her life, and I am heartbroken that I will never see that list.
“As she grew sicker, she couldn’t finish it.
“I imagine it would’ve included our daughter Grace, whales, ice cream, her beloved friends, being at the beach, her niece and nephews she incorrigibly doted on, reading 10 books on a weeklong vacation, her beloved parents and sister and their amazing extended family, swimming, a perfect roast beef sandwich, and me, her sweet sweet honey.
“If you don’t mind, please leave me and her family a note below that was a comfort or joy that you shared with Casey.
“Oh Casey!!!! I don’t know how we will do it without you but we will.”
Andrew, her husband, wrote that as a result of her illness, Casey wasn't able to finish writing her last farewell
Image credits: arosegregory
The editor went on to inform Casey’s followers that her life would be celebrated by “anonymously purchasing medical debt and then anonymously forgiving it.”
As a memorial service is planned for December 2, mourners will be able to anonymously donate to the charity RIP Medical Debt, where $132,188.80 has already been raised as of Friday (November 17).
Andrew and Casey welcomed their daughter Grace last year, thanks to IVF
Image credits: arosegregory
Casey worked as a publisher at Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House that publishes books for kids and young adults, a new Instagram post revealed on Wednesday (November 15).
The recent post, which was an obituary initially published by Andrew, disclosed that Casey was born on February 1, 1985.
The publisher grew up in Upper Manhattan and Tenafly, New Jersey, before attending Agnes Scott College in Georgia.
She and Andrew wed in 2015, before being diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer in 2019 while undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment.
The couple wed in 2015 before Casey was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer in 2019
In an interview on Cup of Jo in July 2020, Casey said: “I had a big surgery in January [2020], where they removed everything that had cancer on it — a full hysterectomy, part of my spleen, part of my liver, part of my lung.
“That was the scary part.
“These days, I’m feeling more hopeful.
“Doing IVF back-to-back with cancer treatment made me realize: women go through a lot of hard things and don’t talk about them that much.”
As a result of a successful IVF procedure, Casey and Andrew welcomed baby Grace in April 2022.
According to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, a woman's lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer is 1 in 78, while a woman's lifetime risk of dying from invasive ovarian cancer is 1 in 108.
Moreover, ovarian cancer survival rates are much lower than other cancers that affect women.
Casey's family has since raised over $130,000 for the charity RIP Medical Debt
Image credits: arosegregory
In 2015, actress and activist Angelina Jolie went public with her choice to have surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Angelina, who lost her mother, grandmother, and aunt to cancer, revealed that she was born with the BRCA1 genetic mutation, which puts her at high risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
After already announcing she had undergone a preventative mastectomy, the 48-year-old filmmaker published an opinion piece in The New York Times at the time where she explained: “Surgery to remove my tubes and ovaries was the best option because, on top of the BRCA gene, three women in my family have died from cancer.
“My doctors indicated I should have preventive surgery about a decade before the earliest onset of cancer in my female relatives.
“My mother’s ovarian cancer was diagnosed when she was 49.
“I’m 39. Last week, I had the procedure: a laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.”
Casey's friends and family flooded her Instagram page with beautiful tributes
Dr. Elizabeth Swisher, medical director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center said: “Women with a BRCA mutation have a 40 to 50 percent chance of getting ovarian cancer in their lifetime compared to somebody with an average risk, who has a 1.8 percent lifetime risk.
“They have a huge risk for ovarian cancer and unlike other cancers, we don’t have adequate early detection.
“If you just wait and get ovarian cancer, the chance of dying is very high.
“It’s a very deadly disease.”
Casey grew up in Upper Manhattan and Tenafly, New Jersey
