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Chekita's Cancer Treatment Fund

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Hello, everyone, my name is Chekita Belgrave and I was recently diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer called osteogenic sarcoma in my right cheek bone. I am a 20-year-old Barbadian student living alone in Toronto, Canada. A former student of Queen's College in Barbados now, a Second Year Marketing Degree student at Humber College, Canada.

Funny enough, when this all started I thought I just had a minor toothache that would soon disappear. It didn't disappear but turned into the worst toothache of my life, so painful it brought tears to my eyes. I then went to the dentist and she thought the best course of action was to perform a number of root canals. When it was time to do the procedure, my gums were so infected there was no way it could be done and the dentist prescribed oral antibiotics for a number of days.

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Instead of getting better, the right side of my face became swollen, painful and numb including my upper lip, nostril, and eye.  The oral antibiotics were not working and that weekend, I visited the Emergency Room every 8 hours for IV treatments, Friday through to Sunday night.

Currently



The pain, swelling, and numbness persisted and my case was transferred to an oral surgeon. To decrease the swelling, he performed a minor surgery to drain the infection. He told me to return in a couple days with the expectation that my cheek bones would be even again. Unfortunately, there was a very slight change and my face was still swollen, numbed and I was in a ridiculous amount of pain.

Concerned and worried, the surgeon ordered a CT scan which showed a suspicious growth of osteogenic sarcoma. To confirm, a biopsy was done and it was then I knew I never had a dental infection, it was the tumour all along. I was told that a dentist or oral surgeon wouldn't have known what was actually wrong because these cases are so rare that they only witness something like this once in their entire career.

A little over a month now and the tumour continues to grow noticeably, inside and outside of my mouth. Every day it becomes harder to talk and to eat as I am limited to only the left side of my mouth.  My diet has been restricted to only soft foods such as soup or mashed potatoes unable to eat anything else comfortably. Whenever I brush my teeth or wake from a nap there is a pool of blood sitting in my mouth waiting to be discarded. My nostril and eye on the right side of my face runs and waters continuously without me knowing since my face is still numb. During this ordeal, I have also been unable to go to work or school.

Regarding my treatments, I need to receive a surgery costing approx. $80,000 and 6 months of chemotherapy equalling the same amount of $80,000. Because of its complexity, this life-saving surgery cannot be performed in my home country only abroad which will incur a significant amount of medical expenses not covered by medical insurance and will have to be paid out of pocket. As it stands, I can't afford the cost of treatment and the tumour is growing aggressively each day. That is why I created this campaign - to raise $160,000 CAD for my treatments so the pain and suffering can come to an end.

I am really hoping for your support and kindness to help out with my situation. Any donations you can make, as little as they might be, would mean the world to me. 

Thanking you in advance for any support! -Chekita xoxo
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Donations 

  • Cejai Harris
    • $10 
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer

Chekita Belgrave
Organizer
Etobicoke, ON

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