Help Trinity Get Her New Boobs! (I had cancer)
Donation protected
In case, you are not familiar with my story, a little bit about me: I am 43 years old, never married, no children. I am a registered nurse in Albuquerque, NM. Being an RN is my second career; I have been an RN for 4 years now and I love what I do. As soon as I started nursing school, I knew I had picked the right path; I love everything about being a nurse and want to be around to care for my patients for many more years to come. I am used to being the caregiver and have had a hard time being the one that needs to be cared for. Like most nurses, I have a hard time asking for help and taking care of myself. I work in an outpatient clinic with newborn babies all the way through the lifespan to the elderly, I love where I work because our clinic is part of our community and we get to know our patients and their families; we get to see them when they are well and when they are sick and we celebrate their joys and mourn their losses with them.
Just before Christmas in 2019, I was diagnosed with stage 1c HER2+, ER+ breast cancer and Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) of the left breast. I have spent 2020 having my initial surgery, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy infusions to treat my cancer. My cancer was found during a routine mammogram and I was unable to feel it when doing my self-exams. Other than a strong family history of breast cancer, I had no other warning about my cancer. I am so grateful that my cancer was found early and that they were able to remove the tumor and that it had not spread to other places in my body. I am so thankful to my doctors and nurses that have helped me recover. The next step for me is to have a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery to reduce the hereditary risk of recurrence. So now, I need help to complete my breast cancer journey.
The only kind of reconstruction available to me with my insurance uses implants, and for me this is not a good option for many reasons. The reconstruction surgery that I need is not done in the state of New Mexico, thus I will have to go out of state. The Breast Center in New Orleans has developed a surgery called the APEX flap that will use my own tissue to reconstruct my breasts. Having this procedure means that I will not have to worry about future cancers or surgeries as I would with implants. My surgery has been scheduled for March 2021.
I am asking you, my friends and family, and possibly sympathetic strangers, for help to pay for my surgery. I have decided to get my surgeries at the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans, LA, where they pioneered this technique. Since this Center is out of state, and my insurance considers it out of network, I will have to pay $15,000 out of pocket. This includes the surgeon fees, anesthesia, hospitalization, and multiple other medical costs as well as a 7-day hotel stay for both pre-op testing and post-op recovery. This past year of treatment has also cost me considerably out of pocket so my savings are depleted. Because of the side effects I suffered from chemotherapy, and the pandemic, I was off work on FMLA and used my available leave. This means that I will not be paid for much of my 6 weeks of post-surgery recovery, and that makes coming up with the surgery costs very difficult, and I need your help!
I will be sharing updates on my journey so you will know what is going on. Thank you for your donation and if you are the praying type, your prayers and good wishes!
Just before Christmas in 2019, I was diagnosed with stage 1c HER2+, ER+ breast cancer and Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) of the left breast. I have spent 2020 having my initial surgery, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy infusions to treat my cancer. My cancer was found during a routine mammogram and I was unable to feel it when doing my self-exams. Other than a strong family history of breast cancer, I had no other warning about my cancer. I am so grateful that my cancer was found early and that they were able to remove the tumor and that it had not spread to other places in my body. I am so thankful to my doctors and nurses that have helped me recover. The next step for me is to have a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery to reduce the hereditary risk of recurrence. So now, I need help to complete my breast cancer journey.
The only kind of reconstruction available to me with my insurance uses implants, and for me this is not a good option for many reasons. The reconstruction surgery that I need is not done in the state of New Mexico, thus I will have to go out of state. The Breast Center in New Orleans has developed a surgery called the APEX flap that will use my own tissue to reconstruct my breasts. Having this procedure means that I will not have to worry about future cancers or surgeries as I would with implants. My surgery has been scheduled for March 2021.
I am asking you, my friends and family, and possibly sympathetic strangers, for help to pay for my surgery. I have decided to get my surgeries at the Center for Restorative Breast Surgery in New Orleans, LA, where they pioneered this technique. Since this Center is out of state, and my insurance considers it out of network, I will have to pay $15,000 out of pocket. This includes the surgeon fees, anesthesia, hospitalization, and multiple other medical costs as well as a 7-day hotel stay for both pre-op testing and post-op recovery. This past year of treatment has also cost me considerably out of pocket so my savings are depleted. Because of the side effects I suffered from chemotherapy, and the pandemic, I was off work on FMLA and used my available leave. This means that I will not be paid for much of my 6 weeks of post-surgery recovery, and that makes coming up with the surgery costs very difficult, and I need your help!
I will be sharing updates on my journey so you will know what is going on. Thank you for your donation and if you are the praying type, your prayers and good wishes!
Organizer
Trinity Abernathy
Organizer
Albuquerque, NM