A cancer fundraiser for Melisa Richter.

Hello! My name is Valerie Austgen and I am starting this GoFundMe page for my favorite sister-in-law, Melisa Richter. She was recently diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer. She also tested positive for the HER-2 protein which means that her type of breast cancer can spread faster. If you would like to follow her journey, her CaringBridge page is: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/melisarichter She started her 1st of hopefully 6 rounds of chemotherapy which is already taking a toll on her and is causing her unpleasant side effects. Shortly after her first treatment, her doctors did a breast MRI which showed 2 new spots. They will be doing another biopsy to test these new spots. We are hoping that this will not hinder the possibility of doing a lumpectomy vs a full mastectomy. In either case, once she is done with the chemo, she will have to have surgery followed by radiation. Melisa is married to my younger brother, Mike, and they have 2 sons, Ethan (17) and Aiden (15). They live in Stevens Point and are fortunate to be very close to the cancer center where Melisa is receiving her treatments. They still have a very long road ahead of them but hopefully, with our financial support, they will be able to focus more on her treatments and recovery and less on the increasing number of missed work days, their mounting medical expenses and the worry of how they are going to still pay their monthly bills with less income. Let’s show them that they are not fighting this fight alone. Any amount, no matter how big or small, is greatly appreciated! Thank you! -Val