Support for Amy, who is pregnant and has cancer

Hey  everyone, I'm starting this on behalf of one of my best friends, Amy, who is fighting breast cancer while also being pregnant. During her 8 week OB check up, they found a suspicious lump in her left breast. Within a couple weeks it was confirmed to be breast cancer and they were rushing to get her in chemo so they could get her a full course before she delivered. The tumor is hormone receptor positive so it was growing very very quickly with such abundant access to pregnancy hormones. She was put on reduced schedule AC-T treatment, so she is receiving more doses of chemo in a shorter period of time. All this being combined with pregnancy side effects, symptoms, and doctors appointments. Luckily, her daughter so far seems to be in perfect health and is not being affected by the chemo at all. Even after she delivers her daughter, her fight isn't over. She will still need to have surgery about 4 weeks after delivery to remove what remains of the tumor.

 

Amy also happens to be the main breadwinner of her family, she is a UI/UX manager at a tech company. So for now, not only is she pregnant AND going through chemotherapy treatments, she is also still working full time to support her family. She can only do this for so long, as the effects of chemo are cumulative and she's going to be uncomfortably pregnant during it. She will be going on temporary disability soon in order to focus on her treatment and road to recovery (and road to a newborn!) 

 

We are lucky to live in a state that provides state mandated medical leave and money compensation, but it will not make up for all of her lost wages. She will hit the weekly cap and take a significant pay cut while she is out. She is still responsible for the bills, as her husband works but can't afford them, and may also need to take off himself to help care for her (ESPECIALLY after their daughter is born and she is going into surgery) She shouldn't have the additional stress of making sure that her family is not struggling financially because she got cancer while pregnant. She actually didn't want me to start this because she thinks they will be able to squeak by on just the disability and felt bad.. but she's getting ready to have a newborn! yea maybe she will get by on the bills, but she needs to buy baby supplies, stock up on diapers and formula (she will NOT be able to breastfeed AT ALL!) There's a lot of expenses, and she shouldn't be worrying about if she can afford to feed her baby because she's been out of work for a couple months for chemo! So I just wanna make sure she has a little bit of a safety net to have everything she needs. 

 

Honestly I've only known Amy for a couple months, but I love this girl. She is the type of person that would give you her last $20 if you needed it and never ever ask for anything back in return. She's genuine, loyal, and god damn can she rock that bald head (almost as good as me).