Help Katana Prevent Breast Cancer

Hi there!

My name is Katana (She/Her) and as you may or may not know, I am an absurdly high risk for multiple types of cancer, the biggest and most prolific one being breast cancer. My mother has already had stage 3 breast cancer, and was recently re-diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer after having a full mastectomy of her own.

This being said, I'm getting these things off of my body before its too late.

The gene mutation I have is BRCA1, which puts my personal lifetime risk at about 87%, and my surgeons agree that its basically a matter of when will I get cancer, not if, if I don't get this surgery. Thankfully, my current breast MRI is clear, so no radiation or chemotherapy is necessary.

Yet.

The sooner I get these off of me, the sooner I can breathe easy that my boobs aren't out to kill me with the power of poor-genetic-lottery. I am already disabled, immunosuppresed and chronically ill, so adding cancer into the mix would be disastrous to say the least.

Will the surgery make me completely risk free?

Well, no.

But I will end up with about a 5% chance of breast cancer, which is lower than the average breast-haver who does not have my mutation.

So why the GoFundMe?

Well, I will be down for 6-8 weeks after my surgery, life-willing that I have no complications. I am having a skin-sparing double mastectomy with a diep flap reconstruction, meaning that my stomach skin and fat will be removed and moved to my chest in order to create new breasts, as I have opted to having new breasts recreated. For this 6-8 weeks, IF I am approved for short term disability at my job, I will only be receiving 60% of my usual paycheck amount.

Yeowch.

See, I barely get by our current bills on 100% of my paycheck and reducing this by 40% is basically asking to get me evicted. Not fun, or exciting.

The more I can raise, from beautiful, cool, kind, (sexy?) people like you, the more I can pay my bills and avoid having to go back to work too early, which would compromise the severe amount of healing my body will have to do in order to close up Three separate wound sites.

The money will go towards paying my bills, paying for food, and paying for the gas to any follow up appointments to ensure I am healing properly.

FAQ:

Can I share the GoFundMe?

-Please do! The more eyes I get on this, even if someone can donate $10, $5 or $1, the better the chance I will get the money to safely have this surgery and still pay my bills

When is the Surgery?

-Currently aiming for April 25th 2025, though this may be moved up a little sooner based on my surgeons suggestions after my pre-op visits

Can I donate a little bit at a time, several times?

-Honestly, I think this is a great idea. If someone donates $10 a month over the next 6 months, that's $60! That would be amazing, and less of a strain on your own paycheck. Trust me, I know life is hard for everyone right now, and I would be blessed by any amount of support

If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out to me. I will be sharing this fund a couple times a month leading up to my surgery, and I am happy and willing to talk about the journey.

Be well and thank you for being here :)