Hi, I’m Christina, and I’m organizing this fundraiser for Erica Heeg, my lifelong friend since 2nd grade.

Erica's brother, Cameron Heeg, will be set up as the beneficiary to ensure her medical bills and living expenses are managed properly while she recovers.

Erica wanted to share one message with anyone facing a cancer diagnosis: never give up hope, and never be afraid to ask for help. Please take a moment to read her story — it’s as remarkable as it is inspiring for anyone walking this road.

As a single mom raising her children in Florida without nearby family, Erica has faced cancer with a kind of strength most people can hardly imagine. She worked through chemo, radiation, and several major surgeries, never once asking for help and always believing she could keep going. But this next surgery, a posterior pelvic exenteration, is different. It’s one of the most difficult and life-changing cancer operations there is, and recovery will be long and tough. For the first time, Erica needs a little help to make it through.

Erica was first diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2019. She began with chemotherapy, then radiation, followed by a low anterior resection (LAR) to remove the tumor. Later came a stoma reversal surgery, and she somehow found the strength to rebuild her life once again.

When the cancer returned in January 2021, Erica was officially considered stage 4. She underwent an oophorectomy to remove her ovaries and began front-line chemotherapy for the second time. After developing life-threatening complications, she termed out on full-dose treatment, and her only option was palliative chemotherapy, which she continued for one year. It was at that time she made the hardest decision of her life — to stop chemotherapy against her oncologist’s recommendation.

In 2024, she then faced a secondary thyroid cancer — yet she refused to back down.

Through every round of treatment and every recovery, Erica kept working. Even when she was exhausted and in pain, she showed up — driven by love for her children and the hope of giving them as much time with her as life would allow.

Against every medical prediction, Erica has already beaten the odds. Long-term survival after stage 4 rectal cancer, especially after multiple major surgeries and discontinuation of chemotherapy, is almost unheard of — roughly one in a thousand. But Erica has never lived by statistics. She’s kept surviving, kept believing, while sharing hope with others throughout her cancer community.

She has proven she can survive the unimaginable. The fact that Moffitt’s surgical team has offered this operation means they believe in her strength — and that there’s still a real chance for remission or meaningful survival ahead.

Erica used to tell her friends, “If I ever start a fundraiser, it’ll be when I’m dying — so I can spend the last few months with my family and friends.” She always knew she’d keep fighting, but she never imagined it would come to this. More than anything, she wants to live. She’s fought too hard for too long not to keep going, but this time, she can’t do it alone.

Every donation, every prayer, every share truly matters. If you’ve ever known Erica — her warmth, humor, and quiet strength — please consider donating or sharing this page. Your support means the world right now.

Thank you for helping her stay in this fight. ❤️

Funds will be used for living expenses related extensive post operative care and rehabilitation.