Help Amber Breathe Easy and Fight Hard Against Lung Cancer
Donation protected
Hi!!
For those that don't know me, my name is Nichole and I'm setting up a GoFundMe for my lifelong friend Amber Fake.
On April 25th Amber's life turned upside down when she received a phone call... yes, a phone call (!!), that she has stage 4 metastasized adenocarcinoma in the lung after spending 6 days in the hospital. Although she had been experiencing pain in her neck and back, she never expected lung cancer at the age of 42 being someone who never smoked! I won't get into the emotional rollercoaster that was and is this diagnosis because anyone who has had cancer or had a loved one with cancer, knows all too well the devastation this causes emotionally, mentally, physically and financially.
We (myself, family and friends) figured a GoFundMe is one way we can help lighten the financial burden of this illness. It will serve many purposes and one of the ways it will help is to cover bills.
Amber's husband, Mike, is an Aviation Mechanic, First Class Petty Officer serving in the United States Navy. Amber made the sacrifice to leave her career to follow her husband both overseas and stateside. She also stayed home with their 6 year old son Jameson, because it's difficult to work overseas with international requirements. Amber chose to volunteer as a Naval Family Services COMPASS mentor, command ombudsman, accredited financial counselor for Navy/Marine Relief Society, Command Family Readiness Group and volunteered within many organizations for the Navy. Recently she was able to get a part-time job while Jameson was in school but due to the many hospitalizations, medical appointments, pain and fatigue she is no longer able to work. Even though Amber would have received almost $1900 in social security disability after years of paying in, she doesn't have enough recent work experience due to being a Navy wife and did not qualify. Because Amber received a terminal diagnosis she should qualify for disability but unfortunately this can take years to process and actually receive even with an attorney.
The second thing this GoFundMe will cover are medical expenses. Although Amber has military insurance, it is not covering all of the expenses and in 3 short months, she has already racked up tens of thousands of dollars that the insurance isn't covering. Amber is happy to have insurance but being a one income military family, this is not something they can afford to pay. On top of insurance bills, they also have out of pocket expenses that doesn't go through insurance. Amber's doctor, hospital and chemo treatments are about 2 hours away. This often requires care for Jameson, a hotel stay as well as food and other necessities.
With their doctor's permission, Amber and Mike have the made the decision to go "all in" and fight this illness holistically along with the chemotherapies. She has started some alternative treatments but finances don't allow her to do everything she would like to do that have shown to be beneficial in fighting cancer. The money raised would afford Amber to get all the well studied alternative treatments so she has the best chance at beating this.
The last thing that this money would go towards is something that has been a lifelong dream for Amber. When you receive a diagnosis that uses the words "terminal" and "no cure" the most important thing along with fighting this, is making memories with her loved ones. Although I believe Amber will beat this, there are so many unknowns and memories are the best gifts that we can help Amber, Mike and Jameson make.
"A memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, and the things you never want to lose"
-Kevin Arnold
If you feel led to give, no amount is too small. If you cannot give, please share, share, share. Whether or not you give or share, please pray for complete healing and send all of the good vibes to Amber and her family.
**In addition to starting a GoFundMe, a benefit is being setup in Amber's honor. Please be on the lookout for a save the date with all of the details. You will be able to purchase tickets in advance through this GoFundMe and we encourage you to do so.
Other ways to donate outside of GoFundMe:
Venmo:
PayPal:
Zelle:
Organizer and beneficiary
Nichole Teresa
Organizer
California, MD
Amber Fake
Beneficiary