My Mom (Dawn Riley) was diagnosed with the BRCA2 gene in December 2015 after her father was diagnosed with breast cancer (Yes, Men can get Breast Cancer).  This is when her journey started.  If you have never heard of  BRCA2,  it  is a hereditary cancer gene that can cause breast, ovarian,   melanoma and pancreatic cancer in women.

We have a strong family history.  We have lost too many family members to cancer.  So my Mom decided to take a proactive approach to be able to see me grow up,  go to college and some day have a family of my own.  

In 2016 my mom had a double mastectomy with expanders inserted.   A week after her surgery she had a fall. This caused the left side expander to move into her armpit.  When the time came to insert the breast implants, there was a problem that did not get fixed. The plastic surgeon told my mom she would have to live with it and he was very rude.   So she fired him and got another plastic surgeon that promised to help. This new plastic surgeon was honest and informed her that it could take a couple of surgeries to fix the problem and it did.  In Nov 2016 was the first repair.    Also in 2016 she had a hysterectomy so she would not get ovarian cancer.  In early 2017, her plastic surgeon finally fixed the problem.  Or so we thought.  

Fast forward to 2019.   She heard through her BRCA support group about a breast implant recall.   She contacted her plastic surgeon to ask which brand of implants she has.  She was informed that she has the Allergan textured silicone breast implants, which have now been recalled by the FDA, due to the fact they can cause non hodgkin's lymphoma.  My mom went to see her doctor, and became very emotional because of everything she has done the prevent cancer.  He said lets replace them.  A month later she found out she had Basal Cell Carcinoma with roots in the middle of her chest.  My mom had another surgery to remove the skin cancer.

My mom has had a total of 6 BRCA related surgeries, and has to have another surgery on December 10, 2019.  My mom means the world to me, and I hate to see her in pain. This strong single woman continues to raise me and does everything she can to care for me. I feel so powerless because I can't help her financially.  I am only 15 years old and no one will hire me.    I need your help to come up with at least $5000 to save my mom.  We just want this nightmare to be over as soon as possible.

We know that times are hard for everyone and the holidays are near.  Even the smallest donations will help and if you can not help financially can you please share my mom's GoFundMe link above on all your social media. 

Thank you for your help,
Elizabeth Lane