Briana's Medical Fund
Donation protected
Briana is an upbeat and caring 25 year old woman who has a positive outlook on life, she also just happens to be my beautiful daughter. She recently graduated from Ramapo College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology; prior to that she obtained her Associate of Arts degree in Education from Atlantic Cape Community College. In November 2016 her boyfriend, with whom she met while attending Ramapo College, proposed and together they started planning their wedding for the Fall of 2017...she was thrilled and excited...
In January of 2017 Briana felt a small lump on her breast, she decided to get it checked out and was told it was probably a cyst. She had an ultrasound done and her Doctor called and gave her the results that it was indeed a cyst and said if it bothers her she can get it removed or they can revisit this in 6 months. It was causing her some discomfort so she scheduled an appointment to have it removed, the surgeon could not drain the cyst so she took samples from it to send for testing. A couple weeks later the results came back and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were all shocked and couldn't believe it.
Since this diagnosis, we were able to connect with an amazing team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in NYC. Since joining this team, we have found that Briana has Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast cancer. This cancer had a size of 6.5cm in the main mass and although further testing revealed that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, this cancer was isolated to just one of her breasts. She also received genetic testing where the results came back positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation. With this news, she decided to enter a fertility clinic to retrieve her eggs, so she could have the comfort of knowing she would be able to start a family in the future. Her decision to do so was based off of conceiving difficulty that can occur after chemotherapy and to stop the gene mutation from being passed down to the next generation. She did this procedure, knowing that it would slightly delay her own treatment to give her peace of mind for her future family. She started her chemotherapy in May 2017 and was receiving ACT treatment for a total of 16 weeks. After the chemo therapy, she has to wait one month before she can receive surgery and then receive radiation therapy, following the surgery(ies). Since she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation, she has elected to have a bilateral mastectomy and we are not aware what that recovery time looks like at the moment.
Briana has been on FMLA since the start of her chemo and still has managed to maintain paying her bills. However, her insurance ran out when the FMLA time expired in July and she is still unable to return to work in a full-time capacity. She picked up a supplemental insurance through work, COBRA; however, this is very expensive and requires her to pay the employers share as well as the employee share. On top of all of this, Briana just found out that some of her providers have been out of network; so the medical bills are rapidly growing at an unexpected and unmanageable rate.
With all of this news, Briana and her fiancé have decided to postpone their wedding until the Fall of 2018. Her fiancé has been very supportive and understanding through this very difficult time. He is a Class II Police Officer, picking up extra shifts when he can, to cover the bills for both of them; however, they are still struggling to make ends meet with added medical costs, student loans and miscellaneous bills.
We appreciate any assistance that you might be able to provide, even if it is just saying a prayer… that would also go a long way.
Here are before and after treatment pictures:
In January of 2017 Briana felt a small lump on her breast, she decided to get it checked out and was told it was probably a cyst. She had an ultrasound done and her Doctor called and gave her the results that it was indeed a cyst and said if it bothers her she can get it removed or they can revisit this in 6 months. It was causing her some discomfort so she scheduled an appointment to have it removed, the surgeon could not drain the cyst so she took samples from it to send for testing. A couple weeks later the results came back and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were all shocked and couldn't believe it.
Since this diagnosis, we were able to connect with an amazing team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in NYC. Since joining this team, we have found that Briana has Stage 3 Triple Negative Breast cancer. This cancer had a size of 6.5cm in the main mass and although further testing revealed that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, this cancer was isolated to just one of her breasts. She also received genetic testing where the results came back positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation. With this news, she decided to enter a fertility clinic to retrieve her eggs, so she could have the comfort of knowing she would be able to start a family in the future. Her decision to do so was based off of conceiving difficulty that can occur after chemotherapy and to stop the gene mutation from being passed down to the next generation. She did this procedure, knowing that it would slightly delay her own treatment to give her peace of mind for her future family. She started her chemotherapy in May 2017 and was receiving ACT treatment for a total of 16 weeks. After the chemo therapy, she has to wait one month before she can receive surgery and then receive radiation therapy, following the surgery(ies). Since she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation, she has elected to have a bilateral mastectomy and we are not aware what that recovery time looks like at the moment.
Briana has been on FMLA since the start of her chemo and still has managed to maintain paying her bills. However, her insurance ran out when the FMLA time expired in July and she is still unable to return to work in a full-time capacity. She picked up a supplemental insurance through work, COBRA; however, this is very expensive and requires her to pay the employers share as well as the employee share. On top of all of this, Briana just found out that some of her providers have been out of network; so the medical bills are rapidly growing at an unexpected and unmanageable rate.
With all of this news, Briana and her fiancé have decided to postpone their wedding until the Fall of 2018. Her fiancé has been very supportive and understanding through this very difficult time. He is a Class II Police Officer, picking up extra shifts when he can, to cover the bills for both of them; however, they are still struggling to make ends meet with added medical costs, student loans and miscellaneous bills.
We appreciate any assistance that you might be able to provide, even if it is just saying a prayer… that would also go a long way.
Here are before and after treatment pictures:
Organizer and beneficiary
Brandon R Pfeilmeier
Organizer
Stearns, KY
Briana Pfeilmeier
Beneficiary
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