Help support Angie and her family; recent Cancer diagnosis

Hello, my name is Cara and I am fundraising for my dear friend Angie who is currently going through a very difficult time in her life where she needs our support.

Angie has been an incredible supporter of not only myself the past 8 months but of the infertility community at large. The least we can do is provide her and her family with help to ease the financial burden they are currently experiencing.

"They say, Cancer doesn't care if you make ends meet when it comes to life."

The words "you have skin cancer", freezes everything all at once. It's more than just Cancer of the skin.. Nodular Melanoma stage 2B with ulceration that has potential to be else where and be hidden within you.

..those were the words Angie, a loving parent along side her spouse and 2 adoring children, learned one evening after an excessive delay of a referal while her tumour nearly doubled in size in 8 plus months.

[Stage 2 melanoma extends beyond the epidermis (very outer layer of skin) into the thicker dermis layer of the skin. It is thicker than Stage I melanoma and is slightly more likely to metastasize.

Stage 2B Melanoma: The melanoma tumor is more than 2.0 millimeters and less than 4.0 millimeters thick with broken skin (ulceration) or more than 4.0 millimeters without ulceration.] 

Angie has gone through an immense amount of surgeries including a wide local excision that has went 60% across her back with 13 lympnodes removed and a relentless amount of pain/discomfort. Throughout all of this, her little ones just know this to be another day of mommy having some sore "boo-boos".

Life has been chaotic for them all between the "hurry up and wait" for results. There have been endless amounts of appointments (that she has gone to alone) while her spouse stays with their 2 children at home. As they await each next step, there is a lot of uncertainty, waiting for more procedures/scans etc.

Angie was to be returning to work after being off with her second child, but won't be at this time (something she never fathomed post-partum).

Sadly, there is no EI coverage for Angie, just a label on her work file that says "leave of absence" that sits next to her name. There is zero financial support from her work due to this.

Angie was 38 at the time of her diagnosis (now 39) and for much of her career she had worked with those impacted by Alzhimers and various level of care needs.

On top of all of this impacting her life, Angie has continued to support many of her friends (lots through social media, some strangers) and has done so effortlessly while trying to maintain her current life of navigating parenthood. She is the kind of soul who will give whatever she can to help anyone in need even while struggling herself.

As you can imagine, this has left an incredible financial burden on her and her spouse. Her spouse has only been able to use so many vacation days before running out and when they do, there's no extra financial means to cover for those days, let alone have them off. It is especially difficult when Angie needs to attend appointments, surgeries and immunotherapy for her treatment plan.

As a community who comes together when needed, I'm counting on us all to show Angie and her family the love she gives relentlessly (to everyone she touches in her life) so that her family doesn't need to worry about the financial burden that Cancer has brought upon her and her family.

If we are able to provide funds to them, they will be able to focus on getting Angie better, providing relief for days that are much needed. We don't know exactly what the future means for Angie but as we know, Cancer doesn't care if you make ends meet or are just getting by. Every little bit will be beyond appreciated, no matter the amount.

I know Angie and her family will be extremely thankful to you all as you know "thank you will never be enough".

Cara