Dear friends and family,

We recently learned that my spouse, Nicole, has Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. She has been having random health issues on top of her chronic illness of Fibromyalgia and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction for at least the past six months. All this while only being 1 year post-op from her hysterectomy due to Endometriosis and ovarian cysts, resulting in a sudden thrust into surgical menopause and the hormone imbalance that comes with it.

Over the past 6 months, we made 2 ER and several urgent care trips thinking that she had chronic appendicitis and a heart attack. She started seeing an integrative medicine doctor to try to figure out why she was getting full body hives, thinking it might be Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, and yet all her blood work and tests were coming back "normal."

Due to knowing that she is BRCA2+, she was doing breast surveillance which involves a 6-month rotation between mammogram and breast MRI for dense breast tissue. She was due for another MRI in January, but it was delayed until the spring and then it took a couple of weeks for the doctor to put in the recommended biopsy as a result of those images.

During all of that, I, Jaxon, lost my job at the end of March and we were tossed into the unknown for insurance. Luckily, we were able to get COBRA coverage for her, but that took some time to get set up. She continued to have medical appointments that we were having to pay for out of pocket while our household income was briefly cut in half. Fortunately, I was able to secure a new job only 3 weeks later that has proven to be a great career move for me and the unforeseen future we are facing.

Oh, and the weekend before starting that new job, we moved my youngest 22-year-old back in with us to help her get her chronic health issues under control.

Now that you are somewhat caught up, let me get to the point of this GoFundMe. As a therapist, Nicole is going to be forced to take several months off work to treat one of the worst kinds of breast cancer someone can get. With a new job, that also means we have to start over with insurance deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.

Treatment will most likely consist of a double mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. Nicole has known she wanted Aesthetic Flat Closure when the time came, so we are glad that she has had time to process some of the harder decisions prior to diagnosis rather than having to do all the research in a short period of time.

We are thankful for our community near and far! Every bit of help means the world to us as we embark on this journey.