Theresa's Breast Cancer Fund

Hey dudes and female dudes. This is Maria, Theresa's awesome daughter and breast cancer advocate. To explain what my "position" is, Theresa is like a one [wo]man band and I am her band manager. Her doctors are her record label. I deal with the communication, I go to every doctor appointment, and am going to play a big part in her treatment and recovery. 
First off, I'll tell you a bit about what's going on. She has stage 3 triple negative invasive ductile carcinoma. In simpler terms, some gnarly breast cancer. Triple negative means that it wasn't hormone sensitive or related to HER2. It tends to be a bit more aggressive and has a higher reoccuring rate as well as it tends to travel quicker. It also "disarms" us a bit. With other cancers that are hormone sensitive or related to HER2, you have certain medications that can supplement chemotherapy and help fight the cancer. With triple negative, you don't have any extra weapons to fight with. It does react well to chemo though. We would have needed radiation as well, but I will explain why not anymore in a bit. So with her type of cancer, we will be fighting it very aggressively. Instead, her cancer could be possibily caused by a BRCA gene mutation. Younger women also tend to develop triple negative breast cancer as well. We have family history of cancer, as well as one other woman with her type of cancer.  We are waiting for the genetics test results, so we will have an idea then. We have a wonderful team of doctors backing her up though, and we are not too worried about it. 
She is also stage 3. She has multiple masses in her left breast and her lymph nodes are also affected. There are 4 different stages, and also some subtypes involved. With stage 3, it just means it has spread to the lymph nodes nearby in her armpit. However, it has not spread to any other parts of her body (stage 4). That just means we will be attacking it a bit more aggressively than if she were to be in stage 1 or 2. But her survival rates are still good, so nothing to be alarmed about.
Her treatment plan will be to do neoadjuvant therapy, which is chemo first, then do surgery afterwards. She will have a double mastectomy once chemo is finished. She will have chemo every 2 weeks, and 3 different drugs at a time instead of two. It will only be about 4 months though, but a very exhausting and probably painful 4 months. It should be over before we know it. The double mastectomy will also significantly reduce her risk of reoccurence and that also means she won't need radiation.  
She will not be working during this time to keep her stress and responsibility low. She has to focus on getting better and keeping positive. Her boss is very wonderful throughout this whole process, so her job is not an issue during this time. 
We set up this gofundme because holy cow cancer is extremely expensive. This set up will be used to cover her diet and her copays. We still have to pay a lot of money each time we go to the doctors. And we can't be feeding her crappy $1 mac and cheese and top ramens. Making sure her diet is well rounded and filled to the brim with protein and certain vitamins is VITAL. Eating right during this time will determine how well her body reacts to chemo and her recovery time. If we do it right, this process will be a lot easier. But it will be a lot more expensive than her current diet. We will most likely have a dietician to help us throughout the process. I will be trying to take on as many expenses personally as I can afford, however I live on my own and have my own bills to pay. I am lucky to have a job that will work with my schedule but I will be pretty much staying with my mom for a large majority for it to help with her side effects and to cook and clean and keep her company and help her stay positive, so I will not have the time to work too much and I can't risk getting another job- I am lucky with my job now, but if I am new at another job I probably wouldn't be this lucky. (Thank you Blenders in the Grass, you guys are awesome.) I would be using the money from this gofundme to fill her fridge and cupboards with foods that are important during chemo and cover copays. Any leftover money after this process would be used to pay off as much of her medical bills as possible.

Answers to any questions you might have, and responses to any concerns: 

Why don't you apply for disability instead of a gofundme?: 
She is applying for it. However, she also has rent and bills to pay besides this that she has to cover. Please understand, people spend their life savings sometimes to pay for their treatment. This is not a cheap disease. If you have any negative comments about this gofundme, kindly keep them to yourself. I doubt there will be negative backlash, but I'm adding this just in case. ;)

I want to be updated throughout this whole process, how would I go about doing this?:
Theresa has set up a website on Caringbridge.org. The title is called My Tangled Journey. You can search by that or by her name as well. You may need an account. I will also be updating this gofundme on a pretty regular basis to keep you guys in the knowhow of all of this. 

I heard somewhere that [enter any information about whatever] helps cure cancer! I want to tell you about it, and you won't even need chemo and [enter any other things similar to those statements]!: 
Honestly, while your input is appreciated, we have great doctors and feel very good about this treatment plan. While it is very sweet  that you guys want to help out and give us ideas, we are already set on our course. Thank you though for your input, it's very sweet you guys care. If you have an idea that you REALLY want us to know about, contact Maria and she will research and see if it is a possibility for use with her treatment. 

I want to be of help with her treatment but I'm not sure how to go about it?:
Contact Maria about it if Theresa hasn't contacted you. There are plenty of ways to be of service. A lot of stuff she would need help with will be covered by Maria but there is always a way. Her friends are very important and there will be a lot of help I will also need during when I'm working and when my mom wants to go out and do things. I want to keep  her pretty distracted and positive during this tiring process so she will need a lot of support from her friends as well. If you're looking to just keep her company you can talk to her about it. This response is for people looking to help with stuff related to her actual treatment. 

I don't have a lot of money but I want to help out with food. Can I donate some food that I have?:
There is a specific diet plan we will be following. Some foods we need to stear clear of. It would be easier for us to be able to just buy the food ourselves that she will need during this time. If you want to bake her a dish, send the recipe and I can confirm if it would be okay with treatment and with her tastebuds, knowing that chemo will alter a lot of flavors for her. 

I am not comfortable giving you money through gofundme but I want to help with some of your expenses. How can I do that?:
We are also going to accept grocery store gift cards as well. I understand that a lot of people aren't comfortable just giving cash to someone for them to spend. Gift cards sound good to us in that case.

Any other comments or concerns? Feel free to ask. x) We will answer the ones that we can. 
I have met some of her friends. And you all are awesome. She has a good support system behind this. The outpouring of love she has gotten during the last couple of weeks is incredible. I am glad to see how much you guys care about her. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart. She is going to make it out of this knowing just how much her friends love her and that is a good feeling. 

Let's kick cancer's butt. <3