Help Pepper Fight Breast Cancer
Donation protected
My dear friend Pepper Segal Estrada is a wife and mother of two young boys who is battling breast cancer. In February 2018, during the second trimester of her second pregnancy, we were all shocked to find out that what Pepper was told by her doctors was most likely a swollen milk grand turned out to be stage 2b breast cancer. She had 3 tumors and her cancer had metastasized to her lymph nodes. Pepper was already experiencing the struggles of cancer on a family as her father had been recently diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. Now the Segal and Estrada family had two members fighting for their lives and for the ones they loved.
With the news of her diagnosis, Pepper’s main concern was the safety of her unborn baby. Pepper was already having a difficult pregnancy and was determined to remain focused on getting better and being there for her young family. I can’t even begin to express how proud and amazed I was by her ability to remain positive with such a scary situation. She took comfort that her type of breast cancer was one of the most common and her treatment plan seemed very cut and dry. She was ready to fight this with 16 chemo treatments, surgery and then radiation. Of course, some of Pepper’s treatments were not able to be administered during pregnancy. Therefore, Pepper was induced at 36 weeks and thank God baby Charlie was born happy and healthy. Her doctors did not want a big gap between treatments, so only three weeks after Charlie’s birth she started taking taxol, a chemotherapy drug for estrogen positive breast cancer, and tried to refocus on her battle with breast cancer while also juggling a toddler and a newborn.
Tough Times Continue…
Tragically, two months later her father (Phil Segal) lost his battle with stomach cancer on his 60th birthday. As you all can imagine the shock of losing her father to cancer while fighting her own battle was extremely difficult for Pepper. She somehow found the strength to push on and vowed to keeping fighting for both of them. Six weeks into her taxol treatments, Pepper began to feel a pain underneath her armpit. Her oncologist did a hand exam but did not feel anything. He thought it might have just been an infection from hair regrowth. Therefore, at his recommendation, she went to another week of chemo treatment. However, the pain continued to intensify to where she could hardly put her arm down. She knew something was wrong and insisted to her Oncologist that she have an ultrasound/MRI. With the recent loss of her father to cancer she was not taking any chances. She was right to be concerned, as the results showed that while the tumors had shrunk other lymph nodes had become infected. Even though she was doing chemotherapy, the cancer was still spreading.
Pepper is rushed into surgery, and then more surgery…
Pepper was immediately taken off treatment and scheduled for a bilateral mastectomy. The surgeon removed 16 lymph nodes from her right side, 10 of which were infected. She had somehow gained eight infected lymph nodes in just six weeks. If she had not insisted on that ultra sound and MRI, despite her Oncologists resistance, they would have continued to stay the course and administer the same chemo treatments that obviously were not working. At the current rate of growth, Pepper probably would have jumped to stage 4 breast cancer and been none the wiser.
If that isn’t scary enough, the night following her surgery Pepper was in great pain and kept fainting. She requested to see her doctor to the nurse on call, but he did not take her concerns seriously. Once again Pepper was right, as she endured a hematoma and was rushed back into surgery the next day to prevent a deadly blood clot. I have told Pepper many times throughout this process that she is alive because she has been her own advocate. She has trusted her gut and will fight against all odds when she knows something isn’t right with her body. Healing from two surgeries was very painful and difficult, especially with two small boys who don’t understand why Mommy can’t pick them up. Pepper just wanted to get better for her family, so she pushed through the pain and uncertainty, believing the worst part of her cancer journey was over.
A second diagnosis…
But the worst is not over. Pepper’s latest pathology test showed that the cancer had mutated from an estrogen positive to an estrogen triple negative. Meaning she has gone from the most common type of breast cancer to a form which only 10 to 15% of women have. A rarer type of breast cancer means there is less literature and treatment options, not to mention her doctors told her this type of cancer has a high probability of recurrence. A PET scan confirmed Pepper has clavicle lymph nodes that are still infected, and the cancer is indeed malignant. Even with treatment and surgery, her cancer has progressed to stage 3 as it is still metastasizing.
Pepper and all of us that love her are devastated by this news. This makes her path to recovery much longer. She now is slated to receive radiation Monday through Friday for 6.5 weeks, followed by a new round of chemotherapy for six months with three chemotherapy pills twice a day. With all this Pepper has little time to find a job, much less work. Her husband Rudi is working as much as he can, but regularly must take time off to take care of their boys Jaxson and Charlie. I have set up this account and provided you all these intimate details of my friend’s insanely difficult journey with breast cancer to ask for your support to assist Pepper and her family in their time of need. I have known Pepper almost my whole life and she is not someone that likes to ask for help but knows her family is going to potentially lose everything otherwise.
Pepper is the toughest person I know, and I have no doubt she will beat cancer. She is so grateful for the love and support she has received during her journey so far by those rallying around her. However, right now is an extremely tough time for her, Rudi, Jaxson and Charlie. Please consider donating no matter how big or small to this incredibly beautiful and deserving person. The money raised will hopefully help her and her family be able to take on the next (and unexpected) phase of her breast cancer fight. I (and Pepper) thank you so much for your support!
With the news of her diagnosis, Pepper’s main concern was the safety of her unborn baby. Pepper was already having a difficult pregnancy and was determined to remain focused on getting better and being there for her young family. I can’t even begin to express how proud and amazed I was by her ability to remain positive with such a scary situation. She took comfort that her type of breast cancer was one of the most common and her treatment plan seemed very cut and dry. She was ready to fight this with 16 chemo treatments, surgery and then radiation. Of course, some of Pepper’s treatments were not able to be administered during pregnancy. Therefore, Pepper was induced at 36 weeks and thank God baby Charlie was born happy and healthy. Her doctors did not want a big gap between treatments, so only three weeks after Charlie’s birth she started taking taxol, a chemotherapy drug for estrogen positive breast cancer, and tried to refocus on her battle with breast cancer while also juggling a toddler and a newborn.
Tough Times Continue…
Tragically, two months later her father (Phil Segal) lost his battle with stomach cancer on his 60th birthday. As you all can imagine the shock of losing her father to cancer while fighting her own battle was extremely difficult for Pepper. She somehow found the strength to push on and vowed to keeping fighting for both of them. Six weeks into her taxol treatments, Pepper began to feel a pain underneath her armpit. Her oncologist did a hand exam but did not feel anything. He thought it might have just been an infection from hair regrowth. Therefore, at his recommendation, she went to another week of chemo treatment. However, the pain continued to intensify to where she could hardly put her arm down. She knew something was wrong and insisted to her Oncologist that she have an ultrasound/MRI. With the recent loss of her father to cancer she was not taking any chances. She was right to be concerned, as the results showed that while the tumors had shrunk other lymph nodes had become infected. Even though she was doing chemotherapy, the cancer was still spreading.
Pepper is rushed into surgery, and then more surgery…
Pepper was immediately taken off treatment and scheduled for a bilateral mastectomy. The surgeon removed 16 lymph nodes from her right side, 10 of which were infected. She had somehow gained eight infected lymph nodes in just six weeks. If she had not insisted on that ultra sound and MRI, despite her Oncologists resistance, they would have continued to stay the course and administer the same chemo treatments that obviously were not working. At the current rate of growth, Pepper probably would have jumped to stage 4 breast cancer and been none the wiser.
If that isn’t scary enough, the night following her surgery Pepper was in great pain and kept fainting. She requested to see her doctor to the nurse on call, but he did not take her concerns seriously. Once again Pepper was right, as she endured a hematoma and was rushed back into surgery the next day to prevent a deadly blood clot. I have told Pepper many times throughout this process that she is alive because she has been her own advocate. She has trusted her gut and will fight against all odds when she knows something isn’t right with her body. Healing from two surgeries was very painful and difficult, especially with two small boys who don’t understand why Mommy can’t pick them up. Pepper just wanted to get better for her family, so she pushed through the pain and uncertainty, believing the worst part of her cancer journey was over.
A second diagnosis…
But the worst is not over. Pepper’s latest pathology test showed that the cancer had mutated from an estrogen positive to an estrogen triple negative. Meaning she has gone from the most common type of breast cancer to a form which only 10 to 15% of women have. A rarer type of breast cancer means there is less literature and treatment options, not to mention her doctors told her this type of cancer has a high probability of recurrence. A PET scan confirmed Pepper has clavicle lymph nodes that are still infected, and the cancer is indeed malignant. Even with treatment and surgery, her cancer has progressed to stage 3 as it is still metastasizing.
Pepper and all of us that love her are devastated by this news. This makes her path to recovery much longer. She now is slated to receive radiation Monday through Friday for 6.5 weeks, followed by a new round of chemotherapy for six months with three chemotherapy pills twice a day. With all this Pepper has little time to find a job, much less work. Her husband Rudi is working as much as he can, but regularly must take time off to take care of their boys Jaxson and Charlie. I have set up this account and provided you all these intimate details of my friend’s insanely difficult journey with breast cancer to ask for your support to assist Pepper and her family in their time of need. I have known Pepper almost my whole life and she is not someone that likes to ask for help but knows her family is going to potentially lose everything otherwise.
Pepper is the toughest person I know, and I have no doubt she will beat cancer. She is so grateful for the love and support she has received during her journey so far by those rallying around her. However, right now is an extremely tough time for her, Rudi, Jaxson and Charlie. Please consider donating no matter how big or small to this incredibly beautiful and deserving person. The money raised will hopefully help her and her family be able to take on the next (and unexpected) phase of her breast cancer fight. I (and Pepper) thank you so much for your support!
Organizer and beneficiary
Devon Sommers Edmonson
Organizer
Greensboro, NC
Pepper Segal Estrada
Beneficiary