Help Johanna fight breast cancer!

Hello, my name is Johanna and in July of 2022, two weeks after my 40th birthday I found a lump in my breast. On August 9th I was diagnosed with stage 1b breast cancer. After more testing it would be confirmed that this cancer was genetic and I was a carrier of the BRCA2 gene.

I had to have a full bilateral mastectomy with lymph node removal in September and then had to do 4 cycles of chemotherapy starting December 2nd. I’ve since completed my chemotherapy on February 3rd but it was a long, hard road. Because I didn’t “fly through” chemo per my oncologist I have to recoup and recover for 12 weeks before I have a full hysterectomy (because the BRCA2 gene has a high risk of ovarian cancer along with breast).

This has been a very difficult journey to be thrust into so young and so quickly. After my hysterectomy in May I will still need several re-construction surgeries from my mastectomy. I haven’t been able to work since my mastectomy and the medical bills, along with my regular bills are starting to add up.

On top of that my husband has just tested positive for COVID so he will now be out of work for at least a week-unpaid.

I am an oncology nurse in my normal life and have now been on both sides of this horrible disease. I never imagined myself being a patient, I never imagined it would be such a hard journey. If you can spare anything, I would be so appreciate. If not, even sharing this would be helpful. Thank you for taking time to read my story.