Monica Hill GoFundMe for Olivia’s College Fund
Donation protected
Please support Monica and her family as she battles stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. We sincerely appreciate everyone's donations over the last year to Susan G. Komen and METAVIVOR, now let's raise money together as #TEAMMONICA to help Monica and her family as they go through this difficult time and plan for their future.
https://www.facebook.com/626591331/posts/10155869906201332/
#TEAMMONICA
#beboldandbehold
Monica's Story
Monica is a 33 year old mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, colleague.
It was 2 days after her daughter's 2nd Birthday and she was just returning to NJ from a work trip. Her husband had just put their daughter to bed and they plopped down on the couch.
Suddenly, she felt a pain in her left breast like that of a clogged duct from breast feeding. She touched the pain point and felt a hard lump. She had no history of breast cancer in her family and she was otherwise healthy. In fact, she had just completed a 5-mile race through central park a month prior to raise money for HIV/AIDS and was feeling great. This was important to her because her and her husband were planning to try to have another baby and she wanted to be healthy.
The day after feeling the lump, she went to my OBGYN and was examined by a wonderful midwife who urged her to go right away for a mammogram and ultrasound. The series of events (tests, scans, biopsies) confirmed that the lump was a malignant Ductal Carcinoma In-Situ (DCIS) ER+, PR+, Her 2 Neu-. She was optimistic that it was “found early” and she would “beat it”. She was making plans to freeze her embryos (since treatment would likely lead to sterility), start chemotherapy and follow with surgery.
Her oncologist asked her about other symptoms she was having and she told her about a hip pain that she attributed to carrying around her healthily heavy toddler and training for the race. She ordered a PET scan to be sure it wasn’t anything more serious and the scan revealed liver metastasis.
Monica remembers sitting in an exam room holding her sister’s hand and trembling from head to toe when her oncologist said, “This changes your diagnosis [to stage 4] and treatment and your cancer is no longer curable. There are treatments but you’ll need to stop your fertility preservation and start therapy right away. Pregnancy is no longer …”
The last words she heard before going cold. Her mouth continued to move but she heard nothing and could not move. The only thing playing in her mind were images of her daughter, her baby. She needs her mama. How could everything change in an instant?
Eventually, she came back into the present and started processing the news. The days and weeks that followed were filled with the most incredible outpouring of support from my family, co-workers, friends and neighbors who made it clear they were #TEAMMONICA and she was not alone. With this army of support and my faith, she felt empowered to do what she could, while she still can raise money for metastatic breast cancer research.
https://www.facebook.com/626591331/posts/10155869906201332/
#TEAMMONICA
#beboldandbehold
Monica's Story
Monica is a 33 year old mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, colleague.
It was 2 days after her daughter's 2nd Birthday and she was just returning to NJ from a work trip. Her husband had just put their daughter to bed and they plopped down on the couch.
Suddenly, she felt a pain in her left breast like that of a clogged duct from breast feeding. She touched the pain point and felt a hard lump. She had no history of breast cancer in her family and she was otherwise healthy. In fact, she had just completed a 5-mile race through central park a month prior to raise money for HIV/AIDS and was feeling great. This was important to her because her and her husband were planning to try to have another baby and she wanted to be healthy.
The day after feeling the lump, she went to my OBGYN and was examined by a wonderful midwife who urged her to go right away for a mammogram and ultrasound. The series of events (tests, scans, biopsies) confirmed that the lump was a malignant Ductal Carcinoma In-Situ (DCIS) ER+, PR+, Her 2 Neu-. She was optimistic that it was “found early” and she would “beat it”. She was making plans to freeze her embryos (since treatment would likely lead to sterility), start chemotherapy and follow with surgery.
Her oncologist asked her about other symptoms she was having and she told her about a hip pain that she attributed to carrying around her healthily heavy toddler and training for the race. She ordered a PET scan to be sure it wasn’t anything more serious and the scan revealed liver metastasis.
Monica remembers sitting in an exam room holding her sister’s hand and trembling from head to toe when her oncologist said, “This changes your diagnosis [to stage 4] and treatment and your cancer is no longer curable. There are treatments but you’ll need to stop your fertility preservation and start therapy right away. Pregnancy is no longer …”
The last words she heard before going cold. Her mouth continued to move but she heard nothing and could not move. The only thing playing in her mind were images of her daughter, her baby. She needs her mama. How could everything change in an instant?
Eventually, she came back into the present and started processing the news. The days and weeks that followed were filled with the most incredible outpouring of support from my family, co-workers, friends and neighbors who made it clear they were #TEAMMONICA and she was not alone. With this army of support and my faith, she felt empowered to do what she could, while she still can raise money for metastatic breast cancer research.
Fundraising team: TEAM MONICA (7)
Curtis Barozzini
Organizer
Raised $1,200 from 13 donations
Glen Gardner, NJ
Monica Hill
Beneficiary
Ashley Zichelli
Team member
Raised $2,750 from 30 donations
Raffaella Riotto
Team member
Raised $700 from 6 donations
Tracy Boyle
Team member
Raised $675 from 8 donations
Dominique Schiano
Team member
Raised $500 from 6 donations
