Our amazing mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. It hits a little harder when Breast Cancer Awareness Month coincides with watching your mom battle breast cancer. She is the strongest person we know, and we know that she will kick cancer’s ass. She has always put everyone else first, whether it was work, family, or friends. Now it is our turn to help her. I recently came to visit my mommy from Washington, and I am learning just how expensive cancer is. There are so many costs beyond those associated with the medical care she needs.

Kari was diagnosed with metastatic ductal carcinoma. She had already had a bilateral mastectomy, to remove both breasts and 13 lymph nodes. She still needs to start chemo, then radiation, and finally hormone therapy.

Right before her cancer diagnosis, our mom started a new job, and with a new job comes new insurance and a reset of her out-of-pocket maximums, leaving our mom with large up-front expenses. She has had to miss work to recover. She still must pay for her everyday expenses, plus the additional cost of all her medications, doctor follow-ups, and anything to make her pain from cancer easier to manage.

Insurance has been challenging to work with. She had already had to compromise on care because of it. When she was first diagnosed, her doctor ordered a PET scan, but insurance denied this, and so she had to settle for CAT scan. The PET scan would have given her a more comprehensive and definitive cancer diagnosis. This is just one example of how difficult insurance has been and we don’t want her care to be compromised.

My sister, who is more regularly taking care of our mom, is finding it incredibly difficult to watch her mom go through this entire ordeal. And it's not just because of the cost. It’s hard to watch our mom not be able to love on her dog Ginger, due to pain. Or to watch her get frustrated when she can’t finish a task because of the pain she is in. It is so hard to see how much this diagnosis has disrupted her life, and for us to not be able to take away her pain or other problems.

Our mom would never ask for help herself, which is why we are doing it for her. We want our mother to be able to focus on healing. For me, it has been so hard to watch her go through this process while I am living across the country. She has helped me through everything, and now I want to help her. She has been through so much. She has lost both of her parents. She has served her country as a veteran. She inspires us to fight and be strong for what matters most. We want her to know she is not fighting this battle alone.

How can you help: every donation, big or small, means the world to us and will help immensely. And while it might feel a little awkward, please share when you donate as it inspires your network to do the same. If you cannot donate, simply sharing the page helps to reach more people who might be able to help our mom.

Thank you for reading this. Our mother is our everything, and we know she is incredibly important to many of you, too. We appreciate the support and know that she will come out of this stronger than ever.