When you are diagnosed with cancer, it alters your life forever.

My name is Stephanie and Eden has been my best friend for over a decade. I have watched her struggle with cancer and it's complications for eight of those years.  This disease has crippled her family financially and mentally. Despite beating breast cancer, Eden is faced with yet another surgery. This amazing family needs our help as they will soon be faced with an incredible financial and emotional burden.

On January 13th 2012, at the age of 24, Eden was diagnosed with High-Grade Ductal Carcinoma. She underwent a double mastectomy a few weeks later followed by 45 sessions of the highest level of radiation she could receive. In November of that same year she underwent breast implant placement. Another surgery in 2013 was to repair a damaged implant replacement, that same surgery was done AGAIN in 2016.

Despite the many challenges she has faced, Eden has overcome and conquered them all. After her double mastectomy she launched her own company after seeing a need that was not currently being met. The Mammy Company was born and since then has helped hundreds of other women find comfort in healing with handcrafted, high-quality mastectomy pillows. She also went on to walk not only one, but TWO, Susan G Komen 3-Day 60 Mile Walks, raising nearly $6000 for cancer research while being a keynote speaker and sharing her own story. 
 
Not knowing for sure if her reproductive health had been compromised Eden and her husband Matt felt extremely blessed to give birth to a healthy baby boy, Cullen, in the fall of 2018.  However, their tenacity as a family is once again being tested as she looks at another surgery. After severe breast pain and extreme fatigue Eden was given the unfortunate news at the end of 2019, that her implant had ruptured which led to an active silicone leak. There are also three enlarged mammary lymph nodes that are unable to be tested for cancer reoccurrence without surgery. As she is no longer an implant candidate she must undergo an extensive surgery called the DIEP Flap that is extremely specialized and not offered in very many areas. This means Eden is forced to seek out of state medical care.
 
This March they will be traveling to Baltimore, Maryland to have what hopefully will be her last surgery. There will be a significant amount of out of pocket expense required as this out of network surgery will require five days in the ICU and an additional week or two in Baltimore for monitoring and follow-up. This will require a short-term rental and most importantly in home health care during recovery. Eden will be completely restricted from caring for Cullen or their two dogs and will not be able to drive for a minimum of 45 days. Matt recently started a new job and will not be able to take the necessary time off of work for the level of support needed.
 
Any funds raised will be used for out of pocket expenses including but not limited to hospital bills, travel requirements and in home care for Eden and their young son.