Please help Angela and her family, cancer expenses
Hi, I'm Angela and I am undergoing treatment for stage four uveal melanoma, sometimes called ocular melanoma. http://www.ocularmelanoma.org/about-om,
I'm a 41 year old single mother with two teenagers at home, two grown children and a four year old grandson and a four month old granddaughter.
Last year I was able to make ends meet thanks to the generous support of many kind people, and I reached my fundraising goal for the year. I continue to travel 230 miles from my home to receive my treatments in New York City regularly. This requires me to take days off from work, and to put a lot of wear and tear on my car.
I'm lucky and my mom, daughter, partner, and my BFF have all taken turns going with me for most of my appointments. I didn't realize when this all started how much of an impact it would have on my home life and my budget. I ran out of paid time off last fall, and that was a tremendous burden. I'm lucky that for now I am not losing income when I take time off--but I still need help fueling and maintaining my car.
Since writing this introduction i 2019 I have major life changes. I'm going to write very openly about this so that people can have some insight into what it's like for me going through these changes.
For 5 years I have stubbornly navigated life with cancer, trying to keep the various obstacles it presents from preventing me from living as nearly a normal life as I can. The time for this seemingly optimistic and *** tactic has come to an end. There are too many factors which I cannot control, and it is with a heavy heart that I plan major changes to my way of living for the foreseeable future.
About 3 months ago (May 2020) it was determined that the treatment that I had been on was no longer as effective as we would like it to be. I have been changed to a drug which is in use widely for several cancers, including Uveal Melanoma, with promising results for other patients who have been treated with it. I hope it's the right path for me now.
The upside is that I only need a dose every 3 weeks instead of every week. The downsides are many. The first two doses weren't so bad. I had hives and it made me tired. Unfortunately, the third dose triggered an extreme arthritis flare up, then a tension headache, which by the 3rd day turned into a migraine that nothing seemed to touch. I have a history of migraines, but this was off the charts. For 3 weeks I tried everything, and eventually was placed on a very high dose of steroids and referred to a neurologist.
This pushed my final combo dose out an additional week while I recovered. Thankfully I was able to get that next dose and I have completed that part of this new treatment. Sadly, by bedtime that day I had a migraine again. I am on medicine to help with this issue and it’s working OK.
All these changes make it nearly impossible for me to keep working. It’s too unpredictable to determine when I’ll be able to drive my 40-minute commute. It would be unwise to assume that on a good morning I’ll have a good afternoon. From the beginning my medical team and many kind people have advised me that stage 4 cancer is a 100% disability. I never felt like it was to me, and I didn’t want to leave a job I truly love. Sometimes I feel like this is giving up. I know once I get the details taken care of, I’ll find other ways to make my life meaningful.
At this time it looks like I will run out of paid time off benefits before any other kind of financial security is determined. My partner is still laid off due to the pandemic as well. We are asking now for as much help as anyone is able to send our way. Please share this fund even if you can’t donate to it. We worked so hard, so long, to get financially secure enough to acquire an appropriate home for our children and I desperately fear the next months of uncertainty.
Thank you for your kindness. It is my hope that I can raise $1000 a month for 2020/20201 to ensure that I continue to stay current with my financial obligations, care for my sons, and replace my car. I appreciate your help!
