Help Virginia DeLorenzo Fight Breast Cancer

Hello everyone. This GoFundMe is for our dear friend Virgina DeLorenzo. Virginia is an amazing educator who grew up and now teaches in Cicero. She goes above and beyond for her students and colleagues. It was a hard decision to step away from the classroom in order to focus on her health and recovery. Please read her story and think about donating to help offset the cost of her missing work this year and to pay medical bills. Thank you so much.

From Virginia:

The morning after we returned from vacation I went for a routine mammogram; July 3rd. I joked with the tech about how easy it was. Two days later on Friday, after my first run in 6 weeks post my hysterectomy. I received a call that every woman dreads.

“We need to come back in for more imaging. We have an appointment on Monday afternoon.”

My heart sank.

More imaging lead to a 95% chance of malignancy rating. Immediately after the biopsy the radiologist personally contacted an oncologist for an appointment. Five days after that I received my biopsy results. Within two weeks of my mammogram, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC)

Breast cancer speak: positive for estrogen, progesterone and HER2…..triple positive for all hormones and one lymph node involvement.

My scans are clear….. no metastasis. Thank god.

Based upon my triple positive diagnosis I will start chemo immediately. HER2 positive is aggressive; about 10% of all breast cancers are triple-positive.

I will go in for a couple of days and say goodbye. As my students start the school year I will begin the fight for my life.