Help Tina in her battle of Stage 3 Breast Cancer

In March of this year my mom Tina Mancuso was diagnosed with stage 3c Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Triple Negative is a beast, a more aggressive form of breast cancer that is harder to treat and more likely for reoccurrence. With all the love and support over the past few weeks I have decided to create this GoFundMe, writing on behalf of my nana (my mom’s mom), my brother Roman, my mom’s closest friends, and the rest of our family, to help raise funds as my mom goes through this tough battle.

 To paint a picture of my mom, she’s a fighter. She’s the woman I get my grit from, my humor, and my work ethic. She’s tough and incredibly hard working, all the things I inspire to be as a woman. During her first chemo treatment, I sent our support group chat a photo of her giving cancer “the bird.” During her second week of chemo, she jokingly decided to name her tumor “Natasha.” In the third week the text, “This bitch Natasha is starting to take my hair. Gonna have to start rockin’ the wig.” Despite her humorous and tough outlook, her journey thus far hasn’t at all been easy, from navigating the effects of chemotherapy, dealing with the pains of insurance, and not being able to work because of it all.

A quick glance at my mom’s journey thus far. She found the lump back in November, however it took until February for her to get approved by her insurance and scheduled for a mammogram. Biopsy in March confirming it was cancer then her doctors urgently prompting her to get an MRI and Pet Scan. When her Pet Scan wasn’t approved by insurance, she decided to pay out of pocket to avoid any more delays. Delays, which had already given time for the cancer to spread to her lymph nodes and regionally. Point being, dealing with insurance has been a roller coaster of stress.

My mom promptly started chemo after all of that. At the time of writing this she’s done 7 chemo sessions. Her treatment plan moving forward is as follows: 5 more weeks of her first round of chemo therapy, then begins 12 weeks of a more aggressive type of chemo called “The Red Devil” (although we prefer to call it “The Red Warrior”), she’ll have surgery a few weeks after that, and then radiation after that. She’s got a long road ahead of her but we’re all confident with her perseverance she’ll make it through the other side stronger. Thankfully we’ve already seen shrinkage in the tumor.

No question, my mom will handle the mental and physical trials as they come. She’s a warrior. But cancer, has brought on a whole slew of trials for her. She currently still manages her small custom suit and alteration business on the days she feels good and energized, but unfortunately is unable to work her bartending gig which made up most of her income. If you’d like to help out, we are appreciative of any donation to help her during the long haul of her cancer journey. For those of you unable to at this time, feel free to share and thank you for reading a bit more about her story. We appreciate all the love and supportive she has received thus far.