I humbly share my journey with cancer in hopes that our family may have some financial relief and our focus can be on thriving, knowing that it is treatable, but not curable. Our goal is to be able to pay medical expenses, get new teeth, and feel like we can come above water and breathe again.  I am 48 years old, married, mother of 3 amazing cutie patooties--Nate (24), Kirsten (21), and Corey (12).  I was diagnosed in January 2016 with stage 3A er/pr positive breast cancer.  I went through 4 rounds of A/C chemo and 4 rounds of taxotere.  I then had a double mastectomy that July, followed by 30 rounds of radiation. I remember crying and yelling out I was tired of all the things that made me look like a female falling off or being taken away fro me. My hubby, with tears in his eyes, told me that none of that mattered to him---just don't lose my butt. He always knows how to make me smile when I feel defeated and has helped me truly understand the meaning of unconditional love. My mother and father, my family and friends in OH, TX, MO, WA, MI, FL, TN, CA, GA, NC, Alaska all boosted my spirits and my family on the days that treatment was too much to endure emotionally and I will be eternally grateful for them all.  I have prayers warriors all over the nation and feel incredibly blessed to know you think of me and pray daily.   My faith, family, and friends is what has kept me alive--and of course, my strong will.   I was in remission in January of 2017. I took a hormone-inhibiting medication as a preventative measure to keep the cancer from growing. I started a small cleaning business, wishing I could go back to being a chemical dependency counselor--but emotionally and physically it just was not the time. I can admit that during this time there was a huge amount of guilt because I could not contribute financially like I did in the past to our home. Unfortunately, I had to stop cleaning homes and the church due to lymphedema, carpal tunnel, intercaustal neuralgia, bone and joint pain, and fatigue. What I come to realize was the importance of who I was to people. I began to discover that God has taken me so far, put so many angels on earth, that no matter what---our family will walk in faith. Where there is love and faith--there is always a way. Remission became a short-lived thing of the past in October of 2019. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer that is now on my lung. I felt like someone had pulled the rug right out from under me and it hit me so incredibly hard. I was looking at my husband and feeling so much pain knowing that we probably wouldn't grow old together because cancer had other plans. I thought of my 3 children and wondered who could love them the way that I do? Who will be there for them to guide them on their journey? Having to tell my family was definately harder than anything I ever had to do. I began treatment in November with an oral chemo and 2 hormone-inhibiting drugs in hopes it would shrink the nodules. The oncologist told me that she was mainly looking for a better quality of life for me. I get labs done twice a month to ensure my white/red blood cell counts are where they need to be to continue treatment. Every month I see the oncologist to go over my treatment. I go to therapy once a week so that I can dump the difficult things I am experiencing on her versus my family because let's face it---because I have cancer, everyone I love and adore is hurting. They are struggling in their own way to wrap their head around what we are going through. I have never put myself first, typically mothers just don't do that. It was something that took time, conditioning, and acceptance of where I am at to do that. My dentist informed me that due to the bone loss from chemo, I am going to need both arches of my teeth removed and replaced with dentures or a four-in-one implant. There are not a lot of things I am weird about, but for whatever reason, I about teeth. It could be my love of food, could be that first impression factor. I have remained strong in my faith and have been optimistic of living by God's will for me and our family. I had my first ct scan since my initial treatments and it is working. 3 of the nodules are undetectable on a CT scan. One nodule is there, lingering. There were new nodules forming on the other lung, but my oncologist believes that it was from a cold that I went through in the winter months while I was undergoing treatment. We remain optimistic about what our future holds. I am humbly asking for help to alleviate some of the financial burden this has brought to our family. The medical expenses, my husband taking off work, missed mortgage payments/vehicle payments, vehicles needing maintenance and repairs, and now me needing teeth. It all has become overwhelming to me. I want my focus not to be on what the cancer is taking away but what blessings we have had along the way. One day at a time I will do what I can to thrive in this opportunity to live yhe life that I have been given. I appreciate the opportunity to share my story. Much love, LeeAnn