Help Jenn fight Breast Cancer

This is my best friend - Jenn Town and one of the hardest working people I know. She is a Chef, and if you know anyone who has chosen this career, you know that their passion for creating beautiful meals for others is what gets them through 12 hour days on their feet.

Jenn has overcome some pretty significant obstacles that started when she was a young girl with juvenile diabetes. She is strong and determined and has always pushed through hard times to keep doing what she loves.

But now she finds herself facing a situation that she cannot overcome without our help.

You see, Jenn has stage 3 breast cancer. And if that was her only challenge, she would face it head on and overcome it like she always has – with determination, focus and a kick ass attitude.

I don’t need to tell you what Covid did to the restaurant industry. It affected everyone, and Jenn is no exception. She was working as a Chef in Palm Springs when in 2020 everything shut down and she lost her job. She started working again the following year, but a few months later found herself with shooting pain in her foot from plantar fasciitis and a bone spur. After trying physical therapy, orthopedic insoles, and steroid shots her doctor determined that surgery was necessary.

She had the surgery and went on state disability insurance, looking forward to healing enough to be able to return to work, but her recovery was going to take about two months longer than expected.

While still recovering from her foot surgery, Jenn had her routine mammogram which looked suspicious; then after months of very expensive tests (CT scan, MRI, PET scan & multiple biopsies) they discovered she had stage 3 breast cancer which had spread to a tumor in her lymph nodes as well.

This is where her story takes a turn for the worse.

When her boss learned that her recovery from foot surgery was taking longer than expected, he fired her two days later just a couple days after Jenn found out she had breast cancer. In the past 3 months of testing to determine what type of cancer she had and while still recovering from foot surgery, Jenn learned she would need 4 months of chemotherapy before having a mastectomy and then radiation after the surgery.

Because she had only worked for eight months in the past year due to Covid, she only qualifies for 24 weeks of state disability instead of the maximum 52 weeks. She received her last check from State Disability Insurance in May. Her oncologist tells her that she will not be able to return to work for another year. Jenn started her first round of chemo on June 2.

Jen needs our help.

Jen is proud and very reluctant to ask for financial help but she is determined to beat this, and I am determined to help her. We would not be setting up this GoFundMe account if she had any other options.

Any amount you can afford to give will help to cover her medical bills, insurance costs, treatment & recovery costs, and help to keep a roof over her head while she endures all of this.

I hope you will join me in giving what you can to help Jenn until she can get back on her feet.