Cheryl Peruche Medical Bill Relief
This fundraiser has been established for my beautiful friend Cheryl Peruche.
Cheryl is the most amazing mother, wife, grandmother, sister, daughter, and friend that anyone could ever ask for. To know Cheryl, is to know love, strength, kindness, and positivity. She loves being on the water, camping..ok glamping, Disney, baking, crafting, and rooting on her 14 year old son at what ever sport he is participating in at that particular moment.
Cheryl was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer on December 13, 2017. She faced 6 months of chemo with grit and grace as only she could. In June 2018 she underwent surgery to have the cancerous tumor and nymphonid removed. That was followed by 7 weeks of radiation. 10 months of hell for the glorious words of an all clear scan in October 2018. Those 10 months added up to over $100k in medical bills. Looking to the future with a positive attitude and chipping away at medical bills slowly Cheryl would make the trip to Moffit every 3 months to be scanned. Every 3 months the blessing of an all clear for nearly two years, until it went terribly wrong. Cheryl had her usual scan on Friday, October 16, 2020 and received the all clear. She spent a great weekend with family and friends. Monday morning she arrived at work at the county sheriffs office she has for many years. Cheryl works in IT and began to log into her computer, although this time was different. She was confused, disoriented, and couldn't remember her username and password. She took a few minutes to gather her thoughts and remembered her login information. As she went to enter it into her computer, her hand was numb and she could not get it to move. She quickly called her husband with her fears and he arranged for an ambulance to meet him at her work. She was rushed to an Ocala hospital that has a stroke unit, with Rick following behind. They very quickly rushed her in was able to perform a MRI and give the devastating blow that no one saw coming. Her breast cancer has spread to her brain and they identified two tumors. Cheryl was released from Ocala and made the drive to Moffit with that terrible news on the mind of her and Rick. The tumors were causing her brain to swell which is what made it seem as she was having a stroke. If you are thinking what I was thinking when I first heard the news... how can this be? She was given an all clear scan 3 days prior! Apparently because breast cancer seldom spreads to the brain the scans she had some many times prior were from the neck down. Due to COVID Cheryl was allowed one visitor a day for the maximum of two hours. Cheryl was told on Tuesday she would be having brain surgery on Thursday to remove the one tumor that was over 2mm. The surgery was a success and she was able to go home just two days later. Her "small" incision was a whopping twelve staples!
She will soon start radiation near the incision where they removed the bigger of the two tumors and the smaller one they left. Radiation of course comes with its own risks and there is now concerns over what may happen to her motor skills.
Already with $100,000 in medical bills from the breast treatment and not knowing what the brain surgery and treatment is going to cost they need our help. Cheryl's husband Rick is a dental hygienist so when COVID hit he was out of work for some time like so many others. It is now unclear when Cheryl will be able to return to her career.
This fundraiser has been established to help ease the burden of the medical bills so that Cheryl and her family can focus on her treatment, healing, and spending precious time together. Anyone who knows the Peruche family knows that they are incredibly giving and never one to ask for a handout. As their family face the unthinkable and do all they can for Cheryl's health, if we can alleviate some of the financial pressure mounting during this difficult time, we too will have done our part to support them in a time of severe need.