Amber's Emergency Mastectomy
Donation protected
Amber Gragert, a 29 year old Mommy to 3 little boys and wife to her high school sweetheart, lives on a small hobby farm in East Texas where she is an active member of their home church and coordinates the ministry for mothers and children. Amber has lived her life in sacrifice to others and now needs help during this difficult journey she has found herself on.
This August, Amber found a lump in her right breast, and has since been diagnosed with Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis - which symptoms mimic breast cancer. It is aggressive, painful and she has felt generally unwell for some time. When symptoms came to the surface, she sought medical care that involved tests, ultrasounds, MRI, and biopsies - all involved believed it was breast cancer.
Thank God it was not; however, the next number of weeks have included additional tests, cultures, specialists, more biopsies, second opinions and much more. A section of skin and tissue on the right breast has already died and will require skin grafts; while the left breast is showing early stage issues. Because of the rapid deterioration, they have expedited a radical bilateral (both breasts) mastectomy for the morning of Thursday, September 28 in an effort to avoid even more intense scarring and hopefully fewer skin grafts.
Fifteen specialists have been involved along with Baylor and Mayo Clinic. Amber's case is not responsive to antibiotics or steroids. It is extremely rare and contained to the breast tissue only. Most info the Drs here are getting is coming from Japan, as it is most prominent in Japanese and Asian cultures/genes. (Amber's great-grandmother is Japanese.)
Just this summer, Jeff and Amber with their three boys, purchased their first home and used all of their savings for a down payment. -And although they do have good insurance through Jeff's work, their out-of-pocket coverage is about $7500. Jeff is also taking additional time off of work, and other family is scheduling vacations to travel to help take care of the boys -- as Amber is unable to do any activity for 4 to 6 weeks. She will also then undergo detailed and extensive reconstruction once all of the healing is complete which will be sometime early spring 2018.
Thank you for prayerfully considering a gift of any amount as it would not only help substantially but also bless their family! Thank you for coming alongside this very loved and adored daughter, sister, amazing mommy, and devoted wife. She does so much for so many others and we want to help lift off this part of the burden from her and her family.
This August, Amber found a lump in her right breast, and has since been diagnosed with Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis - which symptoms mimic breast cancer. It is aggressive, painful and she has felt generally unwell for some time. When symptoms came to the surface, she sought medical care that involved tests, ultrasounds, MRI, and biopsies - all involved believed it was breast cancer.
Thank God it was not; however, the next number of weeks have included additional tests, cultures, specialists, more biopsies, second opinions and much more. A section of skin and tissue on the right breast has already died and will require skin grafts; while the left breast is showing early stage issues. Because of the rapid deterioration, they have expedited a radical bilateral (both breasts) mastectomy for the morning of Thursday, September 28 in an effort to avoid even more intense scarring and hopefully fewer skin grafts.
Fifteen specialists have been involved along with Baylor and Mayo Clinic. Amber's case is not responsive to antibiotics or steroids. It is extremely rare and contained to the breast tissue only. Most info the Drs here are getting is coming from Japan, as it is most prominent in Japanese and Asian cultures/genes. (Amber's great-grandmother is Japanese.)
Just this summer, Jeff and Amber with their three boys, purchased their first home and used all of their savings for a down payment. -And although they do have good insurance through Jeff's work, their out-of-pocket coverage is about $7500. Jeff is also taking additional time off of work, and other family is scheduling vacations to travel to help take care of the boys -- as Amber is unable to do any activity for 4 to 6 weeks. She will also then undergo detailed and extensive reconstruction once all of the healing is complete which will be sometime early spring 2018.
Thank you for prayerfully considering a gift of any amount as it would not only help substantially but also bless their family! Thank you for coming alongside this very loved and adored daughter, sister, amazing mommy, and devoted wife. She does so much for so many others and we want to help lift off this part of the burden from her and her family.
Organizer and beneficiary
Sarah Bailey
Organizer
Lindale, TX
Amber Gragert
Beneficiary
