Help Brenda heal from her fight with breast cancer

In September 2021, Brenda had a small red mark and a large, painful lump in her breast and lymph node. The small red mark quickly spread to her entire breast over the course of a few days After several doctor's appointments, Brenda was told it was an infection by 3 different doctors -one of which was a radiologist that told her it was an abscess after reviewing her diagnostic mammogram images and ultrasound. She kept being placed on rounds of antibiotics. She knew in her gut that it was cancer and kept advocating for herself, and was repeatedly gaslit and dismissed. Her condition was not improving and she was able to see a breast specialist. After several diagnostic mammograms, ultrasounds and biopsies, Brenda was diagnosed with HER-2 positive stage III invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer that has spread to her lymph nodes —— just two days before her son Finn’s first birthday.

 

As a 38-year-old new mother, she faced 6 rounds of a very tough chemo regimen over 18 weeks, surgery and radiation  while they do more tests to see if the cancer has spread to other areas.

She developed interstitial pneumonitis after her fifth round of chemotherapy as a result of a rare reaction to one of her chemotherapy drugs. This resulted in a multiple day hospitalization as her lungs were shutting down. Not even a month after her hospitalization she had her double mastectomy with direct to implant reconstruction. Due to the fact that she had to be on such a high dose of steroids because of the interstitial pneumonitis, her left side mastectomy reconstruction failed after 3 months of her walking around with a gaping wound in her chest that was closed multiple times and continued to reopen. Between February and late June of 2022, Brenda was unable to lift her young son due to her surgeries and complications. After 3 months, she had her left implant removed so she could start radiation that she desperately needed. Going from having a double mastectomy- which is an amputation of your breasts-, losing her nipples during that process and then losing the reconstructed left breast, was and continues to be incredibly challenging mentally and emotionally. She began 28 rounds of radiation in July of 2022 which unfortunately resulted in third degree burns. She is still suffering internal and external damage due to radiation. She has extensive lung damage because of the radiation. She has also been diagnosed with a severe frozen shoulder, severe bursitis and severe tendonitis on her left side. She is still in physical therapy and receiving cortisone injections in the hopes that it helps. On 5/25/23 she was diagnosed with axillary web syndrome, also known as cording. All of those conditions are on her left side and have greatly impacted her mobility & she is left-handed and has to care for her almost 3 year old son. She is unable to work and is still fighting with disability for back pay and monthly disability payments. She also suffers from extreme PTSD as a result of all the trauma.

She needs our help as finances are incredibly tight and she has no income due to being disabled and unable to work and caring for her toddler.

 

We’re asking you to help Brenda and her family with expenses as she begins the arduous healing journey as the biggest fight of her life continues. People do not talk about the after effects of cancer and how much they greatly impact people's lives. The fight isn't over when treatment stops. Cancer leaves an incredible amount of damage in its wake. We all know she’s a kick-ass woman with amazing strength, but any way we can relieve the financial burden will also help her emotionally and physically as she faces all of the new diagnosis resulting from her cancer treatments and surgeries along with her mental health. She will also be facing a major reconstruction surgery called a DIEP flap where they use stomach fat, tissue, skin and blood vessels to rebuild her breasts. It is a very big & complex surgery with an 8 to 12 week recovery if there are no complications. Your continued support is very appreciated. If you are unable to donate, please share her GoFundMe. If you would rather send a doordash, GrubHub or other gift card her email address is [email redacted].

You will also find an attached image of her venmo.

Thank you all for the love! A cancer diagnosis is a completely life altering event that changes your life forever. It takes a huge village to get through it! Much love to each of you that have supported her in any way!