My name is Theresa Battaglia-Palma and I am Nicole Tripi's Aunt, I am writing on behalf of our family helping support my niece in her fight against an aggressive form of Breast Cancer. Aggressive Ductal Carcinoma. Just shy of her 43rd birthday, a time that she was on her highest of highs, ready to have her first grandchild... Nicole discovered a lump. After further testing and MRI’s, there were 3 more lumps found; BOTH breast being compromised. Our family comes from a long line of people who have Breast Cancer or are BRCA2 positive, Nicole being BRCA2 positive. On April 14th she will start her journey. She will undergo a radical double mastectomy, following reconstructive surgery and then aggressive Chemotherapy. 

        Those of us that know Nicole's Journey prior to her finding "the lump" need no more information. But for you that are new to this story let me fill you in a little. Nicole has been a single mother raising 2 beautiful daughters ...all on her own. She has sacrificed and worked for her children. With that being said, it hasn’t been easy. Nicole has always put her children and family first. She has been an amazing mother, daughter, sister, niece, friend, and more. She is a strong, loving, caring, hardworking woman.

       Speaking to Nicole the past couple weeks through all of this craziness, I’ve learned that her insurance isn’t the best and the medical bills have already started to pile up. Not to mention, she does not have any PTO left, and she of course will have to take time off of work for surgery’s, chemotherapy, and doctor appointments. With high copays to pay and an even higher deductible to meet, the stress of it all has made it difficult for her to focus on the things she should be focusing on most; her health and well being.

       As much as I know prayer is the most important thing I can do for Nicole, I can’t help but to feel like I need to do more for her. Now I turn to all of you who know what it’s like to go through this or who has had someone close to them touched by cancer. We started this GoFundMe page in hopes to make this journey for Nicole as stress free as possible. Any donation is greatly appreciated from the bottom of hearts.

 

"Breathe. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. Just breathe. Breathe, and remind yourself of all the times in the past you felt this scared. All of the times you felt this anxious and this overwhelmed. All of the times you felt this level of pain. And remind yourself how each time, you made it through. Life has thrown so much at you, and despite how difficult things have been, you’ve survived. Breathe and trust that you can survive this too. Trust that this struggle is part of the process. And trust that as long as you don’t give up and keep pushing forward, no matter how hopeless things seem, you will make it."

—                 Daniell Koepke