Fight Like Tracy

Tracy Covatto, a born and raised Erie native, is known as the ‘carebear’ amongst her colleagues, for both her sunny disposition, and her drive to help every person who walks into the lobby of her workplace. Tracy is also a loving wife, devoted mother of four, and a breast cancer survivor.

In 2015, Tracy was diagnosed with Stage 3, Triple Negative breast cancer. She endured six months of chemo-therapy, while simultaneously working to support her family. Tracy had a lumpectomy on June 29, 2016.  During this procedure, nine (9) lymph nodes were removed in which four (4) were still cancerous despite treatment.

Tracy’s determination and work ethic would not allow her to quit either her job or her battle for health. She began receiving radiation treatments every day after work from August 2016, to October 2016. Eventually she was sent to the Cleveland Clinic to receive a more aggressive form of chemo therapy for 8 months, via chest pump, and persisted in both her career and responsibilities as a parent over the course of treatment.

Tracy was eventually labeled as being in remission, but was warned she was not completely out of the cancer free zone. Throughout her struggles with breast cancer, her husband has been working two (2) jobs, in addition to Tracy’s full-time employment income, in order to help keep the family financially afloat.

In July 2018, she began to experience unusual back pain, and in September she received the news from her oncologist that her cancer was back and had moved to her spine.  Due to this, she is gearing up for round two of her fight against cancer.

As of Thursday, September 20th 2018, Tracy has officially been diagnosed with Stage 4 bone cancer. This month alone she has gone through blood transfusions, bone marrow biopsies, MRI’s, CT Scans, and PET Scans. Tracy has traveled to Pittsburgh, PA twice for breast and spinal cancer screenings, and has been referred to Sloane Kettering in New York City to receive the best treatment for her current condition.

For the sake of her family, and her commitment to her colleagues; Tracy continues to come to work and face the daily challenges of her job.  She preservers no matter how exhausted or in pain she might be to continue providing valuable services to others. The reality of lost wages is becoming increasingly more imminent, and the ramifications will devastate the entire Covatto Family. On top of the expenses for travelling to and from Sloan Kettering, and the additional medical bills on top of the incurred, unpaid medical expenses due to the influx of medical treatments throughout the years, Tracy, her husband, and four (4) children are facing a mountain of debt with their mortgage, utilities and other cost of living expenses along the way. In order to help balance out all of the cumulative paid weeks, or even months, of work Tracy will miss, we are asking for your help.  Our goal is to assist her family with minimizing the burden of debt so the family can have the time to support Tracy as she is treated for her condition.

On September 17th 2018 Tracy and her husband shared their 30 year anniversary. We want nothing more than to see them celebrate 30 more. Please donate whatever you can to support a fellow mother, wife, survivor, fighter, and “carebear”. No matter how small the contribution might be; it will make a world of difference for Tracy and the Covatto family. Every drop in the bucket helps the Covatto family live life to its fullest during this trying time.