Aileen's Army - Kicking Cancer's A$$!

My name is Aileen, and I'm a 44-year-old single mother of 2 teens living with me 95% of the time.  After a series of scans and biopsies, on January 17, 2022, I was diagnosed with an aggressive-growth Stage 2 Breast Cancer (HER2+, Estrogen+, Progesterone-, grade 3) and on March 10, 2022, I was upgraded to Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer.  I’ve already incurred nearly $4,000 in out-of-pocket expenses for all of the scans, biopsies, port insertion, & numerous doctor visits.  Since I’ve just started my current job in June 2021, I do not qualify for FMLA and currently do not have short-term disability.  Once my accrued PTO runs out, I will not get paid for time/days missed for appointments & chemo treatments/recovery.  I am hoping to still work during treatment so that I can accumulate bits of PTO to use throughout treatment.  I have submitted paperwork to HR for accommodation approval under the Americans with Disabilities Act (this is similar to FMLA in a roundabout way) to help secure my job, but the loss of income combined with ongoing accruing medical bills will eventually put a strain on my finances. I’ve also started working on cleaning up my diet and buying more organic produce/foods and supplements, as well as juicing almost daily - this gets super expensive quickly!  Due to this and all of the financial unknowns to come, I'm humbly reaching out to my family, friends and community for financial support. I'm thankful for any amount as it will be a blessing for me and my family. I'm in good spirits overall, and trusting God through it all!!

A bit of background to my journey thus far:
Since my mom is a 15-year breast cancer survivor and my breasts are very cystic and very dense, my doctors have had me do some sort of a scan 1-2x a year for the past 14+ years.  I’ve previously had breast cysts aspirated, biopsies, and even a lump removed back in 2017 - everything always came back benign.  On September 2021 I went for my annual routine mammogram, and that’s where the real story unfolds…  From then an MRI was requested, and ever since that appointment I had an ongoing gut feeling that this time it was different -that this time it might not be benign.  After further tests, scans & biopsies, on March 10th I was ultimately diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Invasive Ductal Carcinoma based on the biopsy of the lymph nodes in my neck that tested positive for cancer - meaning my cancer has metastasized (spread) outside of my breast.  WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?  Because my cancer is Stage 4, it is medically not considered curable but treatable to prolong my life indefinitely.  Therefore, after I finish chemotherapy, I will need to take medication for the rest of my life to keep the cancer “dormant”.  I am currently awaiting to be scheduled to start chemotherapy any day (I'll go every 21 days for 6 rounds), now that we know the extent of the disease and therefore the proper cocktail to be administered.  I will also need radiation treatments post-chemo.  The breast surgeon previously said that if the cancer had metastasized, a mastectomy is no longer “recommended” as the purpose of that is to help contain it within the breast but that they would still sign off on it if I wanted it when the time comes.  I cannot think that far ahead as to if I will request a mastectomy since it HAS spread, but that will involve additional surgeries, downtime, bills, etc…

 

I really don’t know what else to share, but I am an open book so you’re welcome to ask any questions. Since this forum charges a fee for collecting donations, you can also donate directly to me via:

• Zelle:  (Preferred method -since this is a public site, message me and I will provide my cell# if you don’t already have it)

• PayPal:  @Aileen530 or via my email (again, you can request it from me)

• Venmo:  @Aileen-Garcia-85613

• CashApp:  $leenie1010

Thank you in advance for your continued prayers, support, and donations.