Anyone who knows Lauren Geismar knows that she's a beautiful soul.  She's a thoughtful daughter and sister; a caring and generous aunt; and a fun-loving, reliable friend…  which made the news of her breast cancer diagnosis even more heartbreaking for the people who know and love her. 

At 36, with no family history of breast cancer, it was hard to believe it could be true. As we learned more about it, her capable medical team outlined the risks and challenges of a triple positive prognosis. They would harvest her eggs to preserve a small chance of having biological children in the future, and then begin six months of rigorous chemo. Upon completion of chemo, surgeons would perform a double mastectomy, followed by another course of chemo. If all goes well, after a year and a half of treatment, she will be cancer-free.

Her warrior spirit and an incredible group of supportive friends have propelled her through the first six months of chemo, the double mastectomy, and the start of the second round of chemo while she prepares for surgery #2.  Although her prognosis is good, she's unfortunately fallen within the small percentage of patients who suffer the more uncommon side-effects of chemo and the hormone suppression medications, and that has been taxing on her body and spirit.  She wants to seek oncologist-approved complementary and alternative medicine to help improve her quality of life.  Her out-of-pocket medical costs alone have become burdensome, and the alternative treatments are thereby cost-prohibitive. 

We need your help in giving her the opportunity to pursue alternative treatments and to help alleviate the burden of her medical bills.  Any amount will help and be truly appreciated.  Lauren has always been a bright light in our lives, and she needs our help to keep shining.