Michelle’s Cancer Fight

Hi, my name is Felecia & I’m raising funds for our friend Michelle as she is about to undergo the start of a grueling cancer fight! Michelle found out she has a semi rare cancer to the 3rd part of her duodenum (portion of her small bowel) and will be having surgery on March 6th. Luckily, the scans have shown it hasn’t spread, and it’s only 2.5 cm. They are bringing a surgeon up from Pittsburgh to assist with the surgery.

While Michelle has been an Imaging Technologist for almost 20yrs, she’s been at her current hospital for only 9 mos. Unfortunately, she doesn’t qualify for FMLA (job protection) until she’s been there for a year. Michelle lives alone with her 2 rescue dogs, Boo Boo and Barney. She rescued them shortly after her Buster passed, and before Bear Bear passed. She volunteers at the American Maltese Association Rescue, helping transport dogs when needed. If you know Michelle, you know that she’s always helping homeless animals find homes. She’s always trying to help anyone that she comes across that is in need of any sort of help.

The Dr told her this is going to be a long surgery, with a 7-10 day hospital stay. She won’t even know the amount/length of chemotherapy that she will need until just after surgery, when they get the biopsy results. That is when they will ‘stage’ her. They can’t even say the exact type of surgery (Open vs Laproscopic) until the surgery gets started. They will try to use the Davinci Robotic System and do it laparoscopically first, but because she’s soo tiny and its possible location, everything is unknown until she wakes up. We are all praying for the easier surgery that will have the fastest recovery time.

I’m trying to raise funds for her because she’s going to miss a bit of work. She lives alone and will have bills such as her mortgage, utilities, car payments, co-pays, and medical bills. She does have short-term disability that will only cover 60% of her income, but there is a 2 week waiting period, and taxes will still be taken out of her already decreased pay. This is a very scary process, not just for her, but anyone dealing with cancer & if there is a way that we could make this fight a little easier by taking one less worry away from her, I’m sure she will be eternally grateful! I do know she would not ask for help on her own, so that’s why I am doing it for her. She feels awful about asking for help because she knows everyone is struggling right now with every day costs of things. However, she realizes that right now, it is ok to ask for help, since everything is completely out of her control. All funds will go directly to her to use as needed. I will be providing updates after her surgery and as time goes on. Prayers are greatly appreciated! If you can’t donate, please SHARE. Thank you soo much!