Support Angel's Fight Against Breast Cancer

Angel…her name explains her personality perfectly. Less than 1 month ago Angel was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma with a large 6x6cm mass in her left breast. She is estrogen positive, progesterone positive & HER2 positive, meaning Angel has the most aggressive type of breast cancer there is. Before we get into her recent life-changing cancer diagnosis, let me give you a little background on Angel. She is a single Mom of 2 beautiful girls, Alena (26) & Emma (9). She is the true definition of a single Mom. Like many of us, Angel hasn’t had it easy. She became pregnant with first daughter when she was only 16 and her daughters father passed away when she was only 4 years old. Several years ago, Angel was the victim of a severe domestic violence attack that almost took her life. She was in a coma for a week and spent almost a month in the hospital. She suffered a severe head injury with bleeding and swelling in her brain, several broken bones in her face, required several reconstructive surgeries and braces to repair the physical/cosmetic damage of the attack. That doesn’t cover the life-changing emotional trauma as a result of the attack. Following the surgeries and PTSD from the attack Angel struggled with an opiate addiction. After a decade of trying Angel was able to completely change her life around and get clean and sober in 2019. She had a small setback in her recovery in 2022 but we are proud to say Angel has been clean and sober again since last year. Angel is the first person to offer help to her friends and strangers alike. She will not pass a homeless person on a street corner or at a store without stopping to offer a meal, money, pep talk and a prayer. She is the last person to ask anyone for anything which is why I am starting this GoFundMe on her behalf.

The timeline for her diagnosis is as follows:

About 9 months ago Angel felt a small lump about the size of a tiny pebble in her left breast. She assumed because her implants were so old that it just had something to do with them needing to be replaced and not having the money to do that, she put it off. Over the last 2-3 months the lump grew rapidly. Angel went to see a plastic surgeon for a consult who told her she needed to see her OBGYN immediately to have a mammogram. That week she was seen her OBGYN and sent for a STAT mammogram on 5/2. The mammogram came back showing a 2cm mass with calcifications highly suspicious of malignancy and was referred for a biopsy. On 5/13 she had an ultrasound guided biopsy performed which confirmed stage 2 breast cancer invasive ductal carcinoma. On 5/22 she met with a breast surgeon who confirmed her cancer as being ER positive, PR positive and HER2 positive, measuring 6x6cm. That’s how quickly this tumor is growing! She was immediately referred to an Oncologist who she saw on 5/27. She was told her treatment would be a combination of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. The oncologist referred her for a PET scan which was scheduled 2 days later. She received a call from the Imaging Center that her insurance denied the PET scan, so they rescheduled for Monday, June 3rd tentatively while awaiting the insurance companies’ response and the Imaging Center sent more medical documents to appeal their denial. When Monday came, they still had not received an answer, so it was pushed to June 6th. She had a follow up appointment with the breast surgeon on June 13th but on June 5th she received a call from their office that they had to cancel her appointment because her insurance was cancelled. This was the first Angel heard of that. Angel has had the same health insurance through Sunshine Health, a version of Medicaid, for 9 years. When she called to inquire, she was notified that her health insurance was dropped effective 6/1 to Medicaid, Family Planning Only (meaning she is only covered for birth control – Angel has her tubes tied and does not need this coverage). She was told the reason for her cancellation was because she was sent a child support form in April that was not returned. She found out it was mailed to her old address which is why she never submitted the document. Keep in mind, Angel has received less than $100 in child support the entire 9 years of her daughter’s life. In order to get her insurance reinstated she has to fill out the child support form, mail it to Tallahassee, wait for them to receive it, process it, which can take up to 30 days or more, child support will then notify DCF that she is “in-compliance” with child support, DCF then has 7-10 business days to update her case, then they will notify her by mail that she is able to reapply for Sunshine Health which can take up to another 30 days to process. Meanwhile, ALL the lifesaving scans and tests that she needs cannot be done unless they are paid for out of pocket and again, we don’t know if the cancer has spread anywhere else and the type of cancer she has is the most aggressive type of breast cancer there is. After Angel saw the initial Oncologist, she called Moffit for a 2nd opinion. By the time they called her back her insurance was dropped to Family Planning Only and told that Moffit can’t even see her as a cash pay patient for a consult because “by law” she has some form of health insurance. She was able to get financial assistance through St Anthony’s hospital to have a CT of chest, abdomen, and pelvis in place of the PET scan for the time being which was just completed yesterday. However, she will not be able to follow up with the breast surgeon or Oncologist unless she pays out of pocket. There are so many variables & options such as a double mastectomy, cryoablation, we know her implants need to be removed as they are interfering with her treatment and the scans but her entire treatment is at a standstill due to not having the financial means and current insurance issues.

At the end of March 2024, Angel decided to take the plunge on a dream of hers to finally open her own bookkeeping business after over 20 years in the industry, so she has had no income coming in while getting things set up to start her business and gain clients.

Angel is not married, she does not have a significant other to help with the cost of this medical emergency and add on top of that, the monthly expenses of living and daily expenses just to get by: gas, food, car insurance, rent, utilities, hygiene, simple necessities to care for herself and her daughter. ANGEL LOOKS HEALTHY, VIBRANT AND BEAUTIFUL – YOU WOULD NEVER KNOW SHE IS IN A FIGHT FOR HER LIFE RIGHT NOW!

How you can help?

DONATE here to help cover Angel’s medical and living expense for herself and her daughter over the next 9-12 months if you are able.

SHARE, SHARE, SHARE THIS GOFUNDME TO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WITH A SMALL DESCRIPTION ON WHAT ANGEL MEANS TO YOU IF YOU KNOW HER PERSONALLY.

THE ONLY PART OF THIS GOFUNDME FROM ANGEL, HERSELF….

“PLEASE TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED, ESPECIALLY YOUR HEALTH. FIND GRATITUDE IN EVERYTHING, AS IT IS ALWAYS THERE, I PROMISE! SPEAK AND TREAT EVERYONE WITH KINDNESS & LOVE. ALWAYS SHOW COMPASSION AS YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT SOMEONE IS GOING THROUGH. HUG YOUR BABIES, YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR FRIENDS A LITTLE TIGHTER AND LET THEM KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM EVERY SINGLE CHANCE YOU HAVE!”