Help Jill's Fight Against Breast Cancer
In April of 2018, Jill rushed herself to the ER in extreme pain. After being in the ER for fifteen hours, multiple tests coming back inconclusive, it was decided she would have an emergency exploratory surgery. It was discovered that she had a ruptured abscess on her left ovary, causing a liter of puss to spill into her body, making her go septic. After the two hour surgery she was kept in the ICU for six days, medically sedated, and intubated. Unfortunately she woke up not realizing she missed the last six days of her life. She spent 12 days total in the hospital, 9 of them in the ICU. When she was finally able to return home she had to make the difficult decision to close her in-home daycare, as she wasn’t sure how long her recovery would be. This would be one of the hardest decisions she had to make, as working with children is her passion. Four months after recovery Jill was able to apply for a job in the Rock Island School District, where she has been a paraprofessional for 3 years.
In May of this year, Jill was faced with more difficult news. Jill was diagnosed with stage 2, grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma (breast cancer). She has just finished her 4th round of AC. Adriamycin/Cytoxan is a very aggressive form of chemotherapy, known by many as the Red Devil. It so far has shrunk her tumor from 5cm to 2cm! In August she will start on a less aggressive weekly chemo treatment regime, which she will have to continue for 12 weeks. After all of the chemotherapy, she will have a mastectomy, followed by radiation. She still has a long road ahead of her, and that doesn’t involve any reconstructive surgery she will have to have later on.
It is in Jill’s best interest that she takes the year off due to being immunocompromised from all the chemotherapy she is undergoing. Yet again, she is having to leave her dream of working with children behind. Her husband will also have to take an unknown amount of time off work, unpaid, to care for Jill following her mastectomy. He will also be taking over the role of “mom”, and caring for their son making sure his needs are met too. Once the new calendar year hits, her insurance deductible is reset, so her reconstructive surgery will be out of pocket. Donating will not only help her family pay medical expenses that will pile up along the way, it will help take the stress off their family, and give them peace of mind. Your help will be greatly appreciated!
