Please Help My Mom With Post Breast Cancer Treatments Costs

In May, my mom was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer. This came as a tremendous shock, because she had been told previously and on multiple occasions that her lump was benign. It was even more shocking because her cancer isn’t hormonal, and cancer doesn’t run in our family. Despite the shock, despite the life changing diagnosis, and all the emotions and pain she was going through, my mom gathered her strength, and began to do everything she could to beat this. She immediately told me and my little sister what was going on. My little sister and I instantly knew we needed to stay with our mom and be there for her emotionally, financially, and in any way she needed.

My mom is an amazing woman. She has taught and continues to teach me and my little sister so much in life. She taught us how to be caring, hardworking, strong, along with so much more and so many life lessons in general. She taught us, not only through her words, but mainly through her actions.

My mom is an incredibly hard worker. She always has been, and frankly, I don’t know if she knows any other way to be. In the first 3 months of treatment, she never missed a day of work. She would go to work right after the chemo treatments and work extra to make up for any work she missed. She would also take any additional doctors’ appointments during her lunch breaks when she could. Only recently, when her chemo changed, did she begin to rest on the day of chemotherapy. She works so hard while she suffers through all the symptoms, the pain, and the drastic changes and continues to do so because of the financial worry of the cost of everything. Some of these costs include: the current cost for chemo, the continuous additional appointments costs, the cost for the major surgery in December, the continued cost for the chemo, and the continuous appointments afterwards.

One of the hardest life lessons that she taught me, but that we all struggle with, is: reaching out for help when one really needs it. We really need your help. I want my mom to be able to rest when she really needs it, without the worry and stress of what one day may cost us financially. I want her to go into the surgery with a mindset of recovery, and less of one of worry and stress of the calculations of recovery time in relation to cost. I want my mom to not worry and not feel so guilty about the financial burden this puts on her family or how much my little sister and I put in. I want to ensure that she gets the care she needs to beat this. While she knows we’re here for her in every way, I want her to know, there are days she doesn’t have to be so strong all the time.

This is where my little sister, Makeba, and I, Adrena, must reach out and ask you: Please help my mom, Shalonda Sylvester, in this fight against breast cancer.

Thank you so much for reading this and thank you so much for any form of support!