Hi. My name is Andrea and I am a 56-year-old mom, grandma, and great-grandma. I am a breast cancer survivor and 8 years ago started the process of chemo, radiation, surgery, and estrogen blockers. Cancer left me with a different body and new physical challenges to overcome. I've struggled with that sometimes, but have done my best to adapt.

I worked in the field of substance use and pregnancy and then child and adolescent mental health up until 2 years ago, when the work became too much for my own mental health to continue. At that time, I left my job, which was connected to my insurance of course, and started my own housecleaning and life support services business. As a self-employed person, I have not yet been able to afford to purchase health insurance for myself and have been uninsured for the last 2 years.

Recently, I have had some new health challenges come up. I have an ovarian tumor that is likely benign, but may also be excreting estrogen, which for me is bad given my estrogen-positive breast cancer diagnosis previously. While undergoing the diagnostic process for the ovarian tumor, it also came to light that I have some uterine issues as well. I have had a biopsy and am waiting to find out if I get to do cancer a second time. I have had to miss some work due to doctors appts, illness, and I am expecting that a hysterectomy is in my near future, which will require time away from work, and again, as a self-employed person, this is complicated to figure out. I am the primary wage earner for my household and while we live frugally, there is still no wiggle room in my income. We live pay to pay and are always scrambling to take any work either of us can get. Asking for help is hard for me, but at this point, the medical bills are mounting, I have no way to pay them, and I am expecting that I'll likely be off for surgery and recovery for the month of October. I'll update this when I have answers regarding the biopsy results and ongoing treatment plan. Thank you for reading, for donating if you choose, and for being good humans in the world. ❤️