(Friends and family of Heather Desjardins have created this GoFundMe to aid in the heavy expenses that have come with her recent diagnosis and treatment.)

We all know someone whose life has been changed by cancer.

After discovering a lump on her right breast, Heather wanted to be cautious and made an appointment for a mammogram, just to be safe. On January 20th, following a screening at Planned Parenthood, she was diagnosed with Mucinous carcinoma, stage two. In layman’s terms: breast cancer.

While a single surgery was initially the plan for treatment, a biopsy revealed that the cancer had spread to a nearby lymph node. This traumatic news meant that chemotherapy was the new plan moving forward. Heather started chemo in May, had a port placed in June after an anaphylactic reaction, and will continue these hellish, life-saving infusions into the month of July. Once she’s done with chemo, Heather will still need a full bilateral mastectomy and many, many more doctor's appointments. While full of hope, the journey ahead remains a long and uncertain path.

Fighting cancer is expensive. Because Heather has to commute from Ishpeming to Escanaba to attend chemo, doctor’s appointments, and additional medical treatments she desperately needs, her travel expenses are substantial (and we all know how expensive gas is right now). As her health and journey to recovery have taken precedence in her life, Heather has found herself facing unexpected financial strains, impacting her ability to pay bills and work a regular schedule while caring for three kids as a single mother.

Heather is hardworking, fierce, warm, and tough as nails. She’s courageously sharing her story with vulnerability and positivity. If any of her loved ones were in this situation, she would make every effort possible to support them throughout their battle. We can’t fight cancer for her, but we can help negate the financial stress that has been laid over her shoulders and give her more time, space, and energy to focus on healing.

Please consider donating to this campaign if you can spare anything to help Heather with transportation expenses, medical treatments, groceries, mortgage payments, bills, and other living costs. If you can’t, please consider sharing this campaign or volunteering your time.

Let’s give Heather what she needs to kick cancer to the curb!