Nicole's Cancer Journey- third time's a charm!

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Cherez Evans Green and Sherri-Ann Reynolds are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Nicole Byrne.

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Nicole's Cancer Journey - Third times a charm

In 2011, at the age of 26, Nicole was performing a routine self exam and felt something suspicious in her breast. She went to her primary care physician and her gynecologist who both sent her home saying it was nothing. Within the year, her aunt (mother's sister) was diagnosed with breast cancer which prompted her to return for another examination a year later in 2012 at the age of 27. Again the doctor said it was nothing BUT since her aunt was diagnosed, he would send her for an ultrasound which eventually lead to a mammogram and a referral to a breast surgeon. Even still, all of the doctors including 2 breast surgeons told her it felt like nothing. After 7 biopsies, the official diagnosis came in July 2012 of invasive ductal carcinoma in the right breast. Electing for a double mastectomy at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the pathology reports indicated it was actually in both the right and left breasts and clear margins were obtained with NO lymph node involvement. At this point the surgeon commended her for saving her own life. Following the surgery, she went through fertility treatments to save her embryos in hopes of one day having a child of her own. After which her oncologist decided to take the aggressive route and she endured 6 months of chemotherapy with complete hair loss and a slew of side effects, followed by recommendations for 10 years of an oral medication to prevent a recurrence.

In 2018 after 5 years of this medication, her oncologist said they could stop the meds and try for a baby but that idea was halted when a routine ultrasound saw something on her kidney. So back to Sloan Kettering she went for an open partial nephrectomy to remove the mass and part of her kidney. Pathology reports indicated yet again another primary cancer (completely unrelated to the breast cancer)- renal clear cell carcinoma; the most common but most aggressive form of kidney cancer. The surgeons exact words were "given another 3 to 5 years she would have been in trouble." Her guardian angels came through once again saving her life.

Thinking she was in the clear, she went about her life but decided to unfortunately halt the idea of having children considering the risk of a recurrence. In December 2018, she was lifting a patient at work and hurt her back. After about 4 months of trying to nurse her back injury, she decided to call her oncologist to request imaging. In this same month, her aunt who was diagnosed with breast cancer 6 months before her original diagnosis, had sadly passed away from stage 4 breast cancer that had traveled to her liver. Thinking her back injury was only a herniated disc or something less serious, she was shocked and devastated when her doctor called her nearly 4 days after her aunt's memorial service stating "there are multiple areas in your spine and hips suspicious for metastasis." She felt like she was stabbed in the chest with a million knives. How could this be happening when she took the aggressive route in every way possible? Her lymph nodes were clear so how did it spread? That's just it.. cancer is a mystery that can never be explained and it has a mind of its own. In the midst of all of this she celebrated her 34th birthday in the hospital having testing and biopsies, which is when it was concluded that the breast cancer had spread to the bones of her spine and hips almost 7 years after her original diagnosis. Stage 4 cancer at the age of 34.

Now all she can do is put her faith in the hands of her doctors and mostly importantly, God. She has started a treatment regiment of multiple grueling injections and daily oral meds. At this point she says its "like driving a car with no steering wheels or pedals... just driving by faith and hope." She will continue this medication regiment and have repeat scans in 3 months with hopes the meds are working. With it being stage 4, she will be on these meds for as long as they work and once they no longer work she will switch to the next ones... and so on and so forth. A lifelong of gambling with medications and hoping to find ones that will work as long as possible before switching to the next with hope for new medications to be released in the mean time. In addition to these conventional treatments, Nicole has done research on alternative (ranging anywhere from $2k to $10k per visit) and holistic approaches (upwards of $300 per month) and alternative meds that she would like to couple with the current approach, however these treatments are not covered by insurance. Nicole is one of the most selfless people who would give the shirt off of her back for anyone. She has such a big heart and lives her life caring for and taking care of others - a true servants heart. With travel expenses, loss of time at work, copays, and alternative treatments the costs will add up quickly as well as the stress with trying to afford anything and everything she can to save her life!