My mother, Elena, has been an elementary school teacher for most of her life - about 30 years now. Her students have always felt safe with her in class. She has always been sweet and gentle. Many parents still remember her from the school community because she cared about every child in her class.

Currently, she’s going through things that none of us had anticipated.

How Everything Started

Doctors noticed this odd spot in her left breast back in March 2023.

But after further testing the following month, she was diagnosed with:

Stage II Triple Negative Metaplastic Breast Cancer (TNBC).

It is quite rare and possesses aggressive traits.

She had a radical mastectomy in May 2023. They removed 12 lymph nodes. Two of those nodes had cancer. Then came 8 chemo treatments and 23 doses of radiotherapy. It was an incredibly difficult period for her, but she kept fighting and made it into remission. Interestingly, she returned to her job because she sincerely missed her students.

When We Thought She Was Safe… Cancer Came Back

By July 2025, in the course of routine scanning, her lungs showed what resembled metastasis.

Next in October, there were tests that indicated cancer in her left supraclavicular nodes.

On November 10th, she underwent another surgery to have those nodes removed.

She is supposed to begin another chemo cycle on December 15th, 2025.

Hearing this plan, she looked at me and said with a mixture of both humor and exhaustion:

“Guess I won’t have hair again for New Year’s.”

She’s doing her best to be tough about this one too. But we also sought a second opinion from another oncologist just to be safe. And that doctor said that her cancer can now be considered chronic metastatic disease - that is, chemo may be ongoing indefinitely.

Why I’m Asking for Help

Because she has been out on medical leave for so long, her income has been substantially reduced.

She can’t afford her mortgage payments anymore, and this small apartment is the only home she has. She can’t afford to lose this home in the middle of this ordeal. I simply cannot let her.

Moreover, a significant component of cancer treatment remains uncovered too: PET scans, specialist visits, second opinions, comfort medication, possibly immunotherapy based on the data - all of this quickly adds up. Even a small donation can help with something essential right away.

I sincerely never believed that I would be asking for this, but I do not want my mom fighting cancer and fighting homelessness simultaneously.

If You Can Help

Any donation helps. Truly.

And if you can’t donate, even sharing this helps more than you think.

My mother spent her whole life helping little kids. Now I’m just trying to help her get through this.

Thank you for taking the time to read her story. Your kindness means more than you know.