Help Maria Double Punch BreastCancer

Hi, my name is Maria Martinez, and in late 2017, after a routine self examination, I was shocked to find a lump in my left breast. Concerned, I went to my doctor and the tests came back positive for DCIS. (Basically cancer in my milk ducts). I quickly got ready for a double mastectomy due to the size of the tumor that was found. Said tumor was a milk duct, it was in danger of quickly spreading if burst. Undergoing the first preventative prophylactic surgery to prevent breast cancer, the biopsies being done to the lymph nodes revealed both to be, thankfully, benign. We have insurance, but it will only cover about 60% of the needed procedures, including office visits, mammograms, sonograms, MRI’s, and surgeries. At least 3-4 more surgeries are needed before all is said and done. My friends and family have discussed with me the need to tell my story. During this time, i will not be able to work because my job is physical, as a massage therapist I’m required to make use of most of my upper body strength, a lot of bending and lifting up to 50 lbs around 9 hours on average per shift. I was diagnosed October 5th with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ. Every emotion you can think of, I had it. Fear, Anxiety, Rage, Helplessness… and not necessarily one at a time. Faced with my own personal cancer journey I knew from experience what was in store for me, because just three years before, my mother, Lupe Cortez Martinez, was diagnosed with breast cancer. As her caregiver through that ordeal, I was given a front row seat to the pain and the fear that with watching my only living parent fight cancer. Now 3 years later, I find myself in my own mothers shoes, with my two teenage daughters, (11 & 14) traveling this journey with me. My next few weeks were a blur of mammograms, sonograms, MRIs and biopsies, being driven to the cancer center 3 times a week by my loving and supporting husband Alfred, our lives were interrupted for 5-6 hours at a time, three times a week, with nothing but talks of cancer and our future, our children's future. The decision to have the prophylactic, double mastectomy was an easy one because I didn’t have to go through radiation or chemo with the mastectomy, I’ll only have to do reconstruction surgery. I didn’t want my daughters to see me go through all the suffering and bodily emaciation like I saw my mother go through when she did radiation. I also went to genetic testing to see if i carried the gene and worse, if i’d passed it along to my children. As this terrifying, new chapter of my life opens up, I will provide updates on all of this as it unfolds! Kind words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated, continued prayers, monetary aide doubly so. Thank you very much for reading my story! I will also be home during this entire ordeal so if anybody would like to come by and visit, keep me company, play games, make jokes, have some good food and drinks (water for me) just let me know, you have my Facebook account and or my number. Xoxoxoxozo Maria Martinez