Help Sharon Fight Cancer

As anyone who’s ever met Sharon Kazianka can attest, she is always there to help others in crisis, whether that means bringing over food or supplies, offering assistance to those recovering from illness or medical issues, or just being a shoulder to cry on. Sharon has a well-deserved reputation for being caring, compassionate, and generous, and now she needs the same from us!

In late 2021, Sharon started experiencing persistent weakness and fatigue – to the point that it made everyday tasks challenging. She knew something serious was wrong, so she sought medical help.

She was initially diagnosed with severe anemia, but her physicians struggled to pinpoint the cause when her symptoms continued. Finally, in March 2022, Sharon underwent a diagnostic colonoscopy, and the doctor found a significant mass in her colon. She was quickly scheduled for emergency surgery; within a week, the mass had been removed and testing revealed she had Stage III colon cancer with lymph node involvement.

With such a serious diagnosis, the doctors wanted to start Sharon’s treatment right away. As soon as she healed sufficiently from surgery, Sharon started chemo, which, as anyone can tell you, is brutal. Since beginning chemo, she has been plagued with severe shortness of breath, fatigue, fluid overload, and several other health issues. So far she has received 6 bi-weekly treatments; only half of what was recommended.

Due to inflammation in her lungs from the treatment, however, she is now on high dose steroids indefinitely, and her chemo regimen has been changed. Instead of every 2 weeks, she will need a different chemo cocktail weekly to prevent further damage. That, unfortunately, means further decreasing her “good” days between treatments.

Doctors also still aren’t sure how extensive or permanent the damage to her lungs is or if she will even be able to complete her full course of chemo. To get answers, she will need to consult with some out-of-area specialists.

As you can imagine, Sharon has been unable to work since her surgery and subsequent treatments. Because the severity and location of the cancer required immediate treatment, Sharon had no time to plan or prepare, and she has since depleted her savings trying to stay afloat through this ordeal.

As a single woman living alone, she doesn’t have the support of a second income and is now struggling even to cover her daily living expenses, much less the exorbitant out-of-network copays for specialist care or the ensuing travel expenses to visit specialists in cities hours (or days) away.

That is why I’m asking for your help. Any contribution, no matter how small, can give Sharon some relief in covering her living expenses for the next few months and help offset the cost of her medical care and travel expenses. For a woman who has given so much and asked for so little, this experience has been humbling for Sharon. So let’s all share what we can and show Sharon that the community she has spent so many years helping is ready to help her in return!

Who am I?

I’m Sheila, a long-time friend of Sharon’s since we met as co-workers over a decade ago. I decided to start this fundraiser for my friend because she’s an incredibly generous person who has found herself in need. So instead of Sharon feeling panicked about money, I want to help her be able to focus on healing and taking care of herself so that she can kick cancer’s ass and get back to living her life like it was meant to be!

I hope you’ll join me in supporting this amazing woman!