Help Christina Fight Stage 2 Cancer

Hi, my name is Christina. I am a 46-year-old mother of 5 children and a grandma of 6 grandchildren. I have found it difficult to reach out and ask for assistance from others as I always figure things out on my own and I also struggle with accepting help as I have always been the giver and fixer. However, due to my medical health, bills are piling up. I have reached out for financial assistance for my medical bills and was put on a payment plan. However, every time I have a procedure, see the doctor, or have testing, the total bill amount increases and so do my monthly payments. We do not qualify for Medicaid and unfortunately, my health insurance is really expensive through my employer and the deductibles and out-of-pocket max are high. I am starting to feel I am at a loss and have no choice but to ask for help.

Last August 2024, I went for a routine 45-year-old colonoscopy screening. I was informed that I had a mass that looked and felt like cancer. I was immediately referred to a surgeon and an oncologist. The biopsy that was taken during my colonoscopy came back as high-grade dysplasia and not cancer. However, that was not a good enough answer for my doctors, so my surgeon continued completing deeper biopsies of the mass because I couldn't start any treatments until the pathology report had noted the cancer. Finally, after the third biopsy in late August 2024, I was diagnosed with invasive adenocarcinoma. I then had a CT scan and an MRI to complete the staging of the cancer. I was then diagnosed with stage 2 rectal cancer.

In the beginning of September, I was able to see the oncologist and get a plan. A few days later, I had a port placed for chemotherapy to begin. I officially started chemotherapy on September 16th, 2024. During my chemotherapy, I became really sick and was not able to work as many hours. However, I am very lucky to have the employer that I do, as I was able to have accommodations so I could work as much as possible from home. I also had quite a few hours of PTO saved. So, I was able to continue paying my monthly bills; however, the medical bills started to pile up.

During chemo, I also formed a blood clot and struggled with dehydration. The medication for the blood clot is not covered by my insurance and I have to pay $150 out of pocket per month for that medication.

On December 5th, I had my last chemotherapy treatment. About 20 minutes into receiving treatment, I started to have a reaction to it. The chemo was stopped, I was placed on O2 due to an O2 drop, and I was given a bunch of medications to reverse the reaction. By the time I was discharged from treatment that day, I was back to baseline and was doing fine.

After the last treatment, I went on to have another CT and MRI to see if there was any change in the tumor. The results came back and the tumor had significantly shrunk. So, the next step was to meet with my surgeon and discuss the next steps.

On January 6th, I went to my appointment with my surgeon. We discussed surgery and planned it for mid-February to give my body time to recover from chemotherapy.

I had my surgery on February 13th. My surgery was supposed to last 5-6 hours. Due to a complication that arose, the surgery ended up being 8-9 hours. I was intubated and placed in ICU. The next day, I was extubated and was doing well.

The next steps are to heal from this current surgery, decide if I will be doing 3 more months of chemo, and prepare for a couple of short procedures and another surgery.

If you can assist in any way, whether it be monetary, a prayer, or even just to share this with others, I would be beyond grateful! Your donations will assist with medical bills, such as, procedures, appointments, medications, medical supplies, travel (gas), food, and monthly bills if needed.

Thank you for reading my story!