Help a beautiful single mom battle cancer

We all have special people in our lives who make our world a better place. Meet one of mine – Rachel. She lives across the country from me, is an amazing single mom to two incredibly special little boys, and she just got her world rocked. No one wants to get COVID, but in this case, it could very well have saved her life.

When Rachel was struggling with breathing after her positive COVID test, she ended up in the ER. During the testing, the doctors found some symptoms that were not normal with just the virus alone. It was determined that she had a severely enlarged thyroid with a large tumor on the side. She was referred to an endocrinologist for biopsy and to begin treatment.

The biopsies came back as category four atypical/suspicious on a level of 1 to 6, and 6 being cancer and not the cancer you want. The left side of her thyroid is completely consumed by those category four cells and a 6 cm tumor that contains those exact same cells. Her right side of her thyroid has three individual 2 cm tumors which contain those same cells inside.

After surgical removal of the left tumor, the biopsy results came back as Papillary Carcinoma (cancer) and she will have to get the right side out, too. The good news is the cancer cells were only in the tumor and the cells progressing to cancer were on the outside on the gland and nowhere else. However, there is worry the cells will spread on right side and the cells in the 3 tumors on the right side contain the same cells that were on the left side tumor. This means there is a higher than 80% chance they are cancer too. Some of the side effects have included losing clumps of her beautiful hair, peeling skin and the inability to eat normally. You can imagine her energy levels are at zero and she is in pain.

Rachel is now in recovery for 2 to 3 weeks and will then have to have the other tumor removed. During this time, she is unable to work (she is a self-employed cosmetologist) and needs assistance to keep the family afloat. The last 12 months have been extremely challenging for her and now the cancer diagnosis.

You will not find anyone who will be more appreciative of your gift or kindness. She just had to uproot the kids and move into a different house and has been trying to get settled. Now life has handed her one of its greatest tests. Thank you for any assistance you can provide!