Fighting For Philecia

Philecia was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer and this is her story:

“In April 2017, I found a small marble sized lump in my left breast while adjusting myself in my sports bra. I did not qualify for insurance, nor did I have the financial means to afford private insurance. I had to go to the free clinic, where they referred me to an imaging center. The test results showed a benign cyst. In retrospect, they think the cancer was behind it, not seen on the ultrasound at that time. They told me to come back if it bothered me, otherwise the cyst did not alarm them/seemed normal. In November I started to notice it was larger and actually noticeable through clothing, which bothered me a little. I said I would get it checked out, but holidays happened and life got in the way, and they said it was benign.... Come January 2018 I was snowboarding when I fell and hit my chest pretty hard. Two weeks later it wasn't getting better and seemed swollen, so I went back to the free clinic where they ordered an ultrasound. That came back abnormal. I then had a second ultra sound, blood work, and referral for a mammogram which showed a more serious issue. I then had 4 biopsies, two left breast, 1 lymph node in left armpit and a pretty traumatic one on my right breast. The results are that I have ductal carcinoma in situ. As I waited for the next steps they started doing an MRI, and a petscan, which resulted in showing the cancer has spread to both my lungs and my sternum. Our protocols for women and breast cancer testing is not good enough. It is not protocol to get a mammogram until 40 years old because programs/insurance won't pay for it without valid reasoning. Mind you because I didn't have insurance, didn't qualify, and am not able to afford private insurance and the clinics are so full and over worked I was forced to wait 5 months to know what was going on. Had regulations and insurance been different I wouldn't be in such a fight right now."Those are the words of our friend Philecia. Her cancer is stage four and has spread. She is the strongest most vibrant woman we know. We are gearing up to fight this as hard as we can as a team, which is why we need as much help and support from our respective communities as we can get. There will be more tests, more surgeries, special necessities, and specialists. Once we’ve beaten this, the testing will be ongoing and extensive to ensure it never returns. Even if you are unable to help Philecia financially please share this far and wide, help us help our beautiful friend. To follow her journey, through the good and the difficult, Instagram updates will be posted @philecia