Help Jennifer Fight Breast Cancer

My beautiful best friend from middle, high school and beyond, Jennifer Merten, was walking her dog on Memorial Day 2021 and felt something bothering her but thought it was her clothing. After getting home, she did a self check and found a large lump. She does self checks regularly, and it had not been there just a few weeks prior to that day. After several doctors visits and tests, Jennifer was diagnosed with stage 3 triple negative, invasive ductal carcinoma. It is an aggressive, fast growing breast cancer so treatment is aggressive. She is currently getting chemo weekly and her last day is November 4th. After that date, she has several surgeries ahead of her and will finish with daily radiation. They are not sure how long the daily radiation will last. Her treatment will be at least two years.

 

As a single woman, Jennifer is having to completely support herself financially through treatment as she fights for her life. Her employer has let her work from home but she has had to take a significant pay cut.

 

She has been on intermittent leave using PTO, but she is running out. Her next surgery will require a 4 week recovery time that is not covered by the leave. The bills are overwhelming and mounting.

 

As anyone can imagine, treatment is painful and Jenn is exhausted. She has acted as her own advocate and organized her own care. All of this has been made even more difficult with this never ending pandemic. This adds a new layer of fear and danger to the immunocompromised.

 

If you feel led, please give what you can. Even $10 will help her pay for gas to get to and from treatment. If you can't give please keep Jennifer in your prayers and share this fundraiser.