Aly's Breast Cancer Battle

First off I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Aly Bright. I’m 28 Years old and I’m currently a Wine Manager at Total Wine and More in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have a wonderful boyfriend named Joey, who is currently in med school and a loving chaweenie named Cooper! I enjoy walking my dog, riding my bike, and doing make-up. I’m outgoing and love to joke and make people laugh.  Recently I’ve had a series of unfortunate events occur.  My whole world was turned upside down when I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at the beginning of September. This could not have come at a worse time as I just lost my brother back in mid August and have barely had time to begin mourning his loss. It has been a stressful and emotional journey so far, but I’m just getting started and going to have to fight hard to overcome this disease. I have since taken medical leave from work, and begin treatment next week.

My journey began back in November of 2017 when I first noticed a small lump on my right breast. After an initial checkup with my doctor, they speculated it may just be a common cyst and didn’t think much of it. While on a trip I first noticed the lump was becoming painful and seemed to be getting larger in size. After these new symptoms emerged, I returned to my doctor and a mammogram was scheduled immediately. The mammogram detected a 3.6cm (~1.5”) mass in my right breast. A biopsy was then scheduled to take a sample of the mass for further study. On September 4th one of my biggest fears became reality; the Biopsy confirmed the mass was cancerous. Currently as I understand it, I have Triple positive 3rd stage breast cancer. The cancer has been detected in a few lymph nodes surrounding my right breast and further investigative work will have to be done (PET Scans and more biopsies) to check if any other areas could be affected.

My treatment will be a tough, long process and the team of doctors working with me have put together a game plan in order to beat this. Target chemotherapy starts next week and will be used to weaken the cancer before surgery can be done to remove the mass (and possibly my whole breast) and any other affected lymph nodes. After surgery radiation therapy will also be required to kill any traces of cancer that may be left in my body. This entire process from start to finish will like take about a year.

One of my biggest dreams in life is to be a mom, and that is one of my main reasons for starting this fundraiser. Chemotherapy is going to weaken my immune system and make me ill, make all of my hair to fall out, and worst of all kill all remaining eggs in my ovaries. A special fertility treatment (which unfortunately is not covered by insurance) can be performed to extract my eggs and freeze them so they may be used in the future when my body is healthy and cancer free enough to bear children. This expensive procedure will cost me roughly $6000. I am fortunate enough to have medical insurance to cover a large portion of my other cancer treatment costs, but a sizeable deductible must be met out of pocket, which is where I plan to spend the remainder of my goal.

I love you all, thank you for all of your support!