Caitlin Got Stage IV Breast Cancer
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Hi, my name is Caitlin Kennedy and I am a 33yr old living with Stage IV Breast Cancer. I pray that I will be here to see 34, but things are not going ideal medically for me. I was diagnosed with Stage II Breast Cancer at 26 and it recurred as Stage IV in my bones & lungs at 29. I am going into my 5th year living with stage IV and 8th year with Cancer.
I want to say THANK YOU for everyone who has helped me emotionally, supported my side businesses, and my family & my fiance for always trying to help.
Cancer has literally taken a toll on me financially - from significant medical debt, costs of treatments, and costs of hollistic care (which I truly believe have helped keep me healthy despite cancer). If you know me, I am usually one to not ask for help. I will trudge along and do it myself until the going gets rough. Now the going has gotten rough.
I have always had 2 jobs, paid my bills, and was typically doing well financially. I had to quit my second job about 2yrs ago. I couldn't handle a 60+hour work week. Then I went out on 9months of medical leave. I was doing "OK" financially, white knuckling it and doing so many odd jobs to make ends meet.
Finally I went back to work in winter 2015 after taking a 7mo break from work, but was hit with an unexpected need for radiation. The radiation took a lot from me, I had 3 bone spots radiated with chemotherapy, and I was been left with relatively low fatigue and permanent acid reflux and digestive issues. I could not work 100%. I worked at 80%, just enough to pay all my bills at the minimum payments with no frills.
Sadly due to more treatment progression, cancer in my brain, and treatment side effects I have officially left my job, I loved on 5/31/17. I am on LTD and SSD, but it honestly is 50% of what I used to make prior to 6/1/17. We also now have to pay for COBRA, which as everyone knows is expensive. Kyle has OBAMACARE and we cannot risk putting me on that with how the government has been trying to change the ACA.
Now I am literally in the red. Most of my money goes into rent, our only car, and the payments of copays, vitamins, and medications. I still am unable to pay for my copays and vitamins sometimes and the bills rack up. Those methods previously mentioned are what brings me to this GoFundMe. All in hopes that someone - somewhere - can help me maintain residually optimum health and not have to strain myself physically and mentally by looking for another job.
I am currently unable to work to debiliating fatigue and onset of recent Brain Tumor in November 2015 & a 40day stay in the ICU in September 2017 due to immunotherapy s/e and lung progression. Most of my money goes into my daily my bills, medical bills, and naturopathic treatments (which are costly), and with whatever income my husband pulls through. He has had to take less work to be my 24/hr caretaker many times & was out of work Jan 2017-April 2017 & has been out of work since July 2017 to the present to be my 24/7 Caretaker, he does not get FMLA as he is a freelancer & has been collecting unemployment from NY State.
I do not qualify for Medicaid. Kyle is on Obamacare, which does not cover doctors outside of NJ & all my providers are in NYC. I cannot afford to risk my life and change oncologists because of health insurance issues. We will be paying close to 1,400 in Cobra a month to pay for my treatment, to keep me alive... yep, that seriously is like 2 weeks worth of pay for some people.
I do get SSD and LTD, but it only covers the Cobra Insurance, my portion of the rent and some of my medical costs. The rest of my bills go in this pile I call "figure it out another day" and thats about it. Kyle also is not loaded with cash, so he unfortunately cannot pay all of these bills and debts for me. He had to drain his savings to stay afloat when he did not work Jan 2017 - April 2017 to care for me at home & then re-drained it again from July 2017 - present.
My savings account is also on the verge of hitting 0 as of 2018. The funds from the GoFundMe have run out. I have used the money to pay medical debt, bills, food to stay alive, and copays to my doctors for treatment.
Thank you all for the encouragement and standing alongside me in my healing journey! I truly believe this is NOT what is in the cards for me, but I do the best I can.
THANK YOU ALL for taking time to read this.
HX OF CARE:
9/30/10 - ER/PR+ HER2- Stage 2 Metastatic Breast @ 26 yrs old
EARLY STAGE TREATMENTS:
Bilateral Mastectomy with 2 Reconstructive Surgeries
16 Sessions of Chemotherapy - Adriamycin & Cytoxan x4 and 12 sessions of weekly Taxol
28 Sessions of Radiation to Clavicle, chest wall and breast skin
2 years on Tamoxifen
6yrs of Lymphedema Treatment for Left Arm
METASTATIC DISEASE TREATMENTS
AREAS WITH METASTATIC DISEASE
7/28/13 - ER/PR+ HER2- Stage 4 w/ metastasis to:
Left Pleural Lining of Left Lung - 2013
Left Hip Illiac Joint - 2014
Spine : T3-T7, T11, L1-L3, Sacrum - 2014 & 2015
Sternum - 2016
Small Spots on Liver Surface - 2015 & 2017
Both Ovaries - 2015
Brain - 2016
Perionetium - 2015 & 2017
TREATMENTS THUS FAR: and OUTCOME:
Radiation Therapies
April 2015 & April 2016 Radiation to ever bone metastis region within the last 12mo - stayed clear of cancer, but left with deformed bones, low WBC and muscular pain
December 2016 Radiation to my brain - 9 spots of the 11 they found: left me with hair loss, fatigue and word recall issues
More Brain Radiation - April 2017 - radiation to the leftover 2 spots from December 2016 & 2 new spots with more hair loss!! yay
July 2017 - More brain radiation to another spot with targeted radiation. All prior radiated spots have shrunk, vanished or are turning into dead tissue.
Systemic Treatments (People call these Chemotherapy)
8/2013-10/2014: 1 year of Femara (had progression to spine at that point)
6/2011 - 3/2015: 5 years on Zometa with continued bone progression
10/2014-4/2015: 6 months of Affinitor/Aromasin (Spine worsened and t3 fractured and impinged spine, left with worse lung and liver issues)
5/2015-9/2015: 5months on a Clinical Trial Lucitanib for FGF gene mutation- no regression, lung was comprimised by pleural effusion
10/2015-7/2016: Xeloda - was regressing the cancer, but a new lung spot showed up and my markers were rising
3/2015 - present : Xgeva - no more bone progression at this time
8/2016 - 11/2016: Faslodex Shots and Ibrance - led to small progression in my lung lining and major Brain Metastisis
12/ 2016 - 3/2017 Carboplatin & Gemzar Chemotherapy (2 weeks on 1 off), had a 4 week break and then chemo stopped working with more progression to lungs, brain and liver
3/2017 - 5/2017: Halaven Chemotheray (2 weeks on 1 off)- progression to lungs, chest wall nodes (clavicle) and lining in my abdomen (perionetum).
5/2017 -7/2017: Navelbine Chemotherapy (2 weeks on 1 off) - more progression to lungs & chest wall nodes (clavicle) and lining in my abdomen (perionetum).
7/2017 - 9/2017: Opdivo Immunotherapy (was every 2 weeks but went off after two rounds of Tx due to lung progression and lung s/e from Opdivo)
9/2017 - 11/2017: Ixempra (every 3 weeks added the Xeloda after no change in Peritoneal disease and progression of ascites)
11/2017 - 2/2018: Ixempra with Xeloda oral therapy (14days on 7days off & went off of Ixempra due to progregssion in liver)
2/2018 - present: Xeloda oral therapy with weekly Abraxane and biweekly Avastin
I will be on some type of treatment forever unless they find a cure. Sadly Stage 4 Breast cancer kills 99% of us cancer people.
Integrative Medicine: (as of 3/2016 cut back due to digestive issues and risk to interfere with chemotherapy)
❤️ Vitamin D3 with K2
❤️ Digestive Enzymes
❤️Calcium-Glucarate
❤️Magnesium Citrate
❤️ Probiotics
❤️ Medical Cannabis for Pain and possible use for reduction in Brain Tumor edema and growth
❤️ Exercise - yoga, walking, cycling, hiking, weights
I want to say THANK YOU for everyone who has helped me emotionally, supported my side businesses, and my family & my fiance for always trying to help.
Cancer has literally taken a toll on me financially - from significant medical debt, costs of treatments, and costs of hollistic care (which I truly believe have helped keep me healthy despite cancer). If you know me, I am usually one to not ask for help. I will trudge along and do it myself until the going gets rough. Now the going has gotten rough.
I have always had 2 jobs, paid my bills, and was typically doing well financially. I had to quit my second job about 2yrs ago. I couldn't handle a 60+hour work week. Then I went out on 9months of medical leave. I was doing "OK" financially, white knuckling it and doing so many odd jobs to make ends meet.
Finally I went back to work in winter 2015 after taking a 7mo break from work, but was hit with an unexpected need for radiation. The radiation took a lot from me, I had 3 bone spots radiated with chemotherapy, and I was been left with relatively low fatigue and permanent acid reflux and digestive issues. I could not work 100%. I worked at 80%, just enough to pay all my bills at the minimum payments with no frills.
Sadly due to more treatment progression, cancer in my brain, and treatment side effects I have officially left my job, I loved on 5/31/17. I am on LTD and SSD, but it honestly is 50% of what I used to make prior to 6/1/17. We also now have to pay for COBRA, which as everyone knows is expensive. Kyle has OBAMACARE and we cannot risk putting me on that with how the government has been trying to change the ACA.
Now I am literally in the red. Most of my money goes into rent, our only car, and the payments of copays, vitamins, and medications. I still am unable to pay for my copays and vitamins sometimes and the bills rack up. Those methods previously mentioned are what brings me to this GoFundMe. All in hopes that someone - somewhere - can help me maintain residually optimum health and not have to strain myself physically and mentally by looking for another job.
I am currently unable to work to debiliating fatigue and onset of recent Brain Tumor in November 2015 & a 40day stay in the ICU in September 2017 due to immunotherapy s/e and lung progression. Most of my money goes into my daily my bills, medical bills, and naturopathic treatments (which are costly), and with whatever income my husband pulls through. He has had to take less work to be my 24/hr caretaker many times & was out of work Jan 2017-April 2017 & has been out of work since July 2017 to the present to be my 24/7 Caretaker, he does not get FMLA as he is a freelancer & has been collecting unemployment from NY State.
I do not qualify for Medicaid. Kyle is on Obamacare, which does not cover doctors outside of NJ & all my providers are in NYC. I cannot afford to risk my life and change oncologists because of health insurance issues. We will be paying close to 1,400 in Cobra a month to pay for my treatment, to keep me alive... yep, that seriously is like 2 weeks worth of pay for some people.
I do get SSD and LTD, but it only covers the Cobra Insurance, my portion of the rent and some of my medical costs. The rest of my bills go in this pile I call "figure it out another day" and thats about it. Kyle also is not loaded with cash, so he unfortunately cannot pay all of these bills and debts for me. He had to drain his savings to stay afloat when he did not work Jan 2017 - April 2017 to care for me at home & then re-drained it again from July 2017 - present.
My savings account is also on the verge of hitting 0 as of 2018. The funds from the GoFundMe have run out. I have used the money to pay medical debt, bills, food to stay alive, and copays to my doctors for treatment.
Thank you all for the encouragement and standing alongside me in my healing journey! I truly believe this is NOT what is in the cards for me, but I do the best I can.
THANK YOU ALL for taking time to read this.
HX OF CARE:
9/30/10 - ER/PR+ HER2- Stage 2 Metastatic Breast @ 26 yrs old
EARLY STAGE TREATMENTS:
Bilateral Mastectomy with 2 Reconstructive Surgeries
16 Sessions of Chemotherapy - Adriamycin & Cytoxan x4 and 12 sessions of weekly Taxol
28 Sessions of Radiation to Clavicle, chest wall and breast skin
2 years on Tamoxifen
6yrs of Lymphedema Treatment for Left Arm
METASTATIC DISEASE TREATMENTS
AREAS WITH METASTATIC DISEASE
7/28/13 - ER/PR+ HER2- Stage 4 w/ metastasis to:
Left Pleural Lining of Left Lung - 2013
Left Hip Illiac Joint - 2014
Spine : T3-T7, T11, L1-L3, Sacrum - 2014 & 2015
Sternum - 2016
Small Spots on Liver Surface - 2015 & 2017
Both Ovaries - 2015
Brain - 2016
Perionetium - 2015 & 2017
TREATMENTS THUS FAR: and OUTCOME:
Radiation Therapies
April 2015 & April 2016 Radiation to ever bone metastis region within the last 12mo - stayed clear of cancer, but left with deformed bones, low WBC and muscular pain
December 2016 Radiation to my brain - 9 spots of the 11 they found: left me with hair loss, fatigue and word recall issues
More Brain Radiation - April 2017 - radiation to the leftover 2 spots from December 2016 & 2 new spots with more hair loss!! yay
July 2017 - More brain radiation to another spot with targeted radiation. All prior radiated spots have shrunk, vanished or are turning into dead tissue.
Systemic Treatments (People call these Chemotherapy)
8/2013-10/2014: 1 year of Femara (had progression to spine at that point)
6/2011 - 3/2015: 5 years on Zometa with continued bone progression
10/2014-4/2015: 6 months of Affinitor/Aromasin (Spine worsened and t3 fractured and impinged spine, left with worse lung and liver issues)
5/2015-9/2015: 5months on a Clinical Trial Lucitanib for FGF gene mutation- no regression, lung was comprimised by pleural effusion
10/2015-7/2016: Xeloda - was regressing the cancer, but a new lung spot showed up and my markers were rising
3/2015 - present : Xgeva - no more bone progression at this time
8/2016 - 11/2016: Faslodex Shots and Ibrance - led to small progression in my lung lining and major Brain Metastisis
12/ 2016 - 3/2017 Carboplatin & Gemzar Chemotherapy (2 weeks on 1 off), had a 4 week break and then chemo stopped working with more progression to lungs, brain and liver
3/2017 - 5/2017: Halaven Chemotheray (2 weeks on 1 off)- progression to lungs, chest wall nodes (clavicle) and lining in my abdomen (perionetum).
5/2017 -7/2017: Navelbine Chemotherapy (2 weeks on 1 off) - more progression to lungs & chest wall nodes (clavicle) and lining in my abdomen (perionetum).
7/2017 - 9/2017: Opdivo Immunotherapy (was every 2 weeks but went off after two rounds of Tx due to lung progression and lung s/e from Opdivo)
9/2017 - 11/2017: Ixempra (every 3 weeks added the Xeloda after no change in Peritoneal disease and progression of ascites)
11/2017 - 2/2018: Ixempra with Xeloda oral therapy (14days on 7days off & went off of Ixempra due to progregssion in liver)
2/2018 - present: Xeloda oral therapy with weekly Abraxane and biweekly Avastin
I will be on some type of treatment forever unless they find a cure. Sadly Stage 4 Breast cancer kills 99% of us cancer people.
Integrative Medicine: (as of 3/2016 cut back due to digestive issues and risk to interfere with chemotherapy)
❤️ Vitamin D3 with K2
❤️ Digestive Enzymes
❤️Calcium-Glucarate
❤️Magnesium Citrate
❤️ Probiotics
❤️ Medical Cannabis for Pain and possible use for reduction in Brain Tumor edema and growth
❤️ Exercise - yoga, walking, cycling, hiking, weights
Organizer
Caitlin Kennedy
Organizer
Middletown, NJ
