Danielle's Road to Recovery

Possibly, one of the more difficult things about writing these is you have to think of the most wonderful things you know to be true about a person, and then lay them all out for the world to see...and follow up by asking for help. I never imagined a day where I would sit and write a “Go Fund Me” request for a person so important to so many, including me. You don’t grow up in Calais without at least ¾ of the population knowing your name. Danielle has so often done for others, lent a hand, a loan, watched a child, worked with a child, loved an elderly person, lent a listening ear, thrown a shower, or party, or just bought a present because she loves you. In all the years I’ve known her, rarely does she want attention drawn to her good deeds, better to just roll along through life being kind and loving, and never asking for anything in return.

As many in our community are aware at this point Danielle Gardner (Stevens) has been battling Cancer since summer. July 21, 2017 she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma in both breasts...the less technical but equally as horrible name is Breast Cancer. On August 21, 2017 Danielle underwent a double mastectomy and sentinel node dissection. That Friday, August 25 the doctor informed her that the Stage would change from 2, to 3a, based on the size and the spreading to lymph nodes. That part of the journey has come and gone, and through it all not a word of help was uttered outside her closest family and friends. Most of Danielle’s care is covered by insurance, but there are many things that insurance doesn’t cover, and those are what I’d like to address with this campaign. For instance, three beautiful daughters, bills for the home you need to keep running while unable to work, and an indecent amount of travel.

As beautiful as our small rural area is, it is not designed for cancer care, which means that Danielle must travel to Bangor over, and over, and over again. At this point she is undergoing chemotherapy treatments every other week until November 1st (8 weeks in total), then begins the 12 weeks, once a week, chemotherapy treatments. Once all chemo is completed, there will be 33 rounds of radiation, which means travel to Bangor Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for almost 7 weeks. On top of all the scheduled treatments, there are trips for MRI’s, meetings with the doctor, various tests, as well as procedures. Unfortunately, Route 9 is no shorter, and so many of us can understand what a huge undertaking of travel that is, even at the best of times. Indeed, from this point forward, there will be no less than 50 trips to Bangor for Danielle.

I ask that whoever you are, wherever you are, and however you may know Danielle that you pass this on, share it, and again, and maybe once more. Give $1, give anything, to lighten the load just a little. Shower her with love, with support, and help her get to all these appointments, to take care of her family, to have one less thing to worry about, to let her and her family know we are all rooting for her. If there is one thing I know to be true of this community, it is that no matter if you reside here now, or in the past, we are all connected, and when the worst news comes to a front door, we gather together to offer love and support, to show generosity and goodness, to lift up one more family...my friend, a beautiful person indeed.