Helping Katrina through her treatments

I met Katrina about a decade ago, and she was just a force. I was blown away at how giving she was: it seemed as though every time I turned around, she was helping someone. She was a volunteer coach for Corinth Youth Cheerleading, she coached in Corinth Little League, she donated her time to the PTSA, and all the while working and showing up to literally everything for her daughter. In the past few years I have tapped her to help with other projects, and I have never been met with anything other than a smile and " of course, what can I do to help!". I've watched in awe how strong she was during her daughter's health struggles and diagnoses, always doing everything so that Raegan's life was as full and beautiful as it could be. She's navigated the waters of becoming a single mother with grace, and never takes anything for herself, only thinking of Rae.

Due to an ongoing battle with health issues relating to her spine, as well as an aggressive autoimmune disorder, Katrina was told in the fall that she was facing the prospect of life in a wheelchair if she did not have spinal surgery to address severe spinal issues that impact her daily life. While she was trying to get things in line to prepare for 6 weeks of no income due to recovery, her world was rocked with another medical issue, this one far more severe. When K told me she had found a lump in her breast, I assured her that it would be fine, and I was sure it was nothing. I have never been more wrong in my life. It was in fact a triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma. What this means in layman's terms is that it's a severely aggressive, fast growing, hard to treat cancer. She has completed 8 weeks of very strong chemotherapy, but is facing 16 more weeks before hopefully undergoing a double mastectomy and hysterectomy. It was also recently discovered that there has been significant damage to her heart, with it's function hovering somewhere around 20% which is affecting the treatments that can be utilized. Katrina is unable to work at this point due to the severe side effects of the treatments that she is receiving to save her life.

Back in November, our community came together to show our friend that we would be here to support her through this journey- it was very successful and gave her a good start financially, but as we all know, it's an expensive world. I would like to come together again, and show K and Rae that we are still here for them. It's going to be a very long road, and though we are researching every option available for helping financially, it's a sad truth that not everything will be covered. Daily living expenses such as rent, gas, and food are piling up, and Katrina is not one to ask for help. In addition to financial help ( every little bit adds up), I would love if you all would share this far and wide. I would love to help K apply for any funds she may be able to receive from charities as well, feel free to send ideas my way. And most importantly- shoot her a message and let her know that we are still here and love her.