Help Cait Fight Invasive Breast Cancer

In late October 2022, Cait was diagnosed at age 40 with invasive, estrogen-positive breast cancer. Invasive breast cancer is infrequent in women 40 and under, and in Cait's case, it was also multicentric- meaning a total of three carcinomas of two different types were present, a status with only a 5% likelihood. Since no metastasis was observed, her oncological team first thought that a double mastectomy followed by hormone suppression therapy would remove the risk of recurrence without any chemotherapy or radiation needed. When the carcinomas were examined after surgery, however, it was discovered that the cancer was much more aggressive than previously thought.

We got the news right before the holidays that chemo would be needed after all to avoid a 1 in 4 probability of worse recurrence of invasive cancer elsewhere in the body (most probably the bones and/or liver) within the next year. The prognosis for recovery from cancer of the bones or liver is much lower than for breast cancer, but Cait's medical team believes that if she is aggressive now (completing five months of dose-dense chemo followed by 5 years of hormone suppression therapy) the likelihood is high that she could be cancer-free for the rest of her life.

Everything has been happening so fast; because the cancer is invasive and aggressive, one treatment has immediately been followed by another. Since receiving her diagnosis shortly before Halloween 2022, Cait has already had major surgery and a month of hormone suppression therapy with menopause-like side effects. The chemotherapy began 1/19/23 and will stretch out across five months.

While we're fortunate that our insurance will cover the cost of chemotherapy itself, there are many additional expenses that we never anticipated and cannot currently cover on our own. We've outlined some of those expenses below.

INTEGRATIVE CARE

The side effects of chemotherapy aren't just painful, they're also risky and toxic to the body. The chemo drugs will put Cait at risk for additional health problems, some of which are lifelong, such as kidney damage, heart problems and neuropathy. Integrative Oncology is comprised of evidence-based complementary therapies that work alongside chemo & hormone therapy to alleviate the side effects of those treatments while amplifying their effectiveness. Integrative care includes treatment-specific nutrition and meal planning, herbal medicine and vitamin supplementation, physical therapy, counseling and oncological massage among other things. These treatments, none of which are covered by our insurance, will help prevent lifelong side effects from chemo as well as ensure a speedier recovery for Cait when the infusions are through.

HOUSING/MORTGAGE

Jeff took a lot of time off work these past few months to drive Cait to and from her medical appointments as well as care for her and Quinn after the surgery. This interfered with our ability to make our mortgage payments- being behind already and now looking down the unexpected barrel of another five months of cancer treatment and other unknowns is terrifying. Any donation you could make would help us catch up in order to make sure we don't lose our home while Cait is receiving treatment or recovering from it. It will also help Jeff be able to continue to prioritize Cait and Quinn through this next era of cancer treatment.

WIGS & OTHER BODY CARE

Losing hair is a well-known side effect of chemotherapy. After chemo, Cait will then enters five years of hormone suppression therapy that will prevent her hair from growing as fast as it would normally. We will need to purchase wigs as well as other head coverings, items that are much more expensive than we anticipated they would be.

We received a list of household items we'll need to stock our home with in preparation for chemo and its side effects. In order to prevent skin complications related to the chemo, we also have to replace every cleanser and detergent in our home, from laundry detergent to dishwashing soap, to mild, unscented, alcohol-free formulas.

OTHER EXPENSES & UNKNOWNS

Obviously there is a lot not specified, and even more on the horizon that we don't even know to anticipate. We're trying to stay ahead of any emergencies that could arise, as well as anticipate needs that the treatment and its symptoms might introduce. Chemo causes severe nausea, vomiting and inability to eat, so we're anticipating needing to purchase large quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables to juice. Chemo notoriously causes dental problems, meaning possible emergency root canals or tooth extractions. A single emergency with the house or the cars could easily grind everything to a halt. A financial buffer would go a long way in ensuring we can make it through this experience together and still able to move forward.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read through this and, if you are able, donating. We love and appreciate you all so much.