OSV News – A Catholic comedian who had multiple live show dates scheduled from October through January for a national tour announced Oct. 15 she had canceled the appearances.
In the Facebook post Oct. 15, Jen Fulwiler said her teenage daughter had been diagnosed with brain cancer, days after undergoing brain surgery.
Fulwiler sought continued prayers from her more than 198,000 followers on Facebook. She said Lane, who is 19, would be starting radiation and chemotherapy soon. She wrote in the post, her family of six children would “be juggling” the three-hour distance between their home in Austin, Texas to Dallas for Lane’s treatment.
In announcing the cancellation, Fulwiler also apologized to her fans for “the inconvenience this causes” and told them they could receive refunds from wherever they bought the tickets to her show.
In an Oct. 6 podcast of The Jen Fulwiler Show, the comedian made a plea for prayers and announced to her audience that her daughter, a college sophomore, would have been undergoing the surgery on the same day the podcast aired. She especially enjoined them to seek Our Lady of Champion’s intercession. Champion, Wisconsin is the first and only approved Marian apparition location in the United States.
The podcast episode had no show opening music and, she mentioned, Kaitlyn – her producer who sometimes interacts with her on-air – was not with her. Fulwiler said in the episode her daughter was handling her medical trial “incredibly,” stating, “She is the most impressive person I’ve, maybe, ever met.”
“On a scale of one to 10, for people who’ve found out that their headaches were a brain tumor and they’re heading in for brain surgery very soon, she’s a 10, in terms of her reaction,” she said.
A GoFundMe page has collected more than $87,000, with a goal of $110,000.
On the Facebook post nine days after the surgery, Fulwiler encouraged her fans to interact with the post.
“Lane has a lot of time to pass in the hospital, and she will read the comments to this post. Would you kindly leave a comment saying something encouraging to her,” she asked.
And as a comedian would do, Fulwiler kept her sense of humor, ending the post with, “Sorry for the dreary update. On a positive note, the milkshakes at the hospital are very good.”
Fulwiler, a Catholic convert who regularly describes herself as formerly “a lifetime atheist” before converting to the faith, is a standup comedian who tours regularly, a podcast host and best selling author with several comedy sketches on social media that have gone viral with millions of views.
Simone Orendain is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Chicago.
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