Support Jennifer's Battle Against Cancer

First off, thank you so much for stopping by this page to show your support for Jennifer & Kimmie!

Watching Jen the last 5 months navigate and handle her cancer diagnosis (invasive ductal carcinoma) like the absolute warrior that she is…. really has put things into perspective just how precious life truly is. And how precious the ones we love and care about are.

Jennifer and Kimmie are some of the BEST people I know and consider them to be family. SOOOO many people love and care about them and everyone has been so eager to help in any way! Even if you are not in a position to help financially (given the reality we are currently living in)… helping by sharing, liking, commenting, praying & sending all of your good vibes is appreciated from the bottom of our hearts.

Medical bills are starting to pile up and they’re dealing with a state leave denial (hopefully will be reversed soon), although she is still trying to work when she’s feeling well enough (more of this to follow in Kimmie’s post below)…the financial stress of the large amount of pay she is losing…. can take a toll.

Although Jen has a long road of recovery ahead, none of us have a doubt she will continue to beat cancer’s @$$!! Especially with the amazing support system - her wife, family, friends, fur babies, peers at work and members of her team and other teams. Thank you again for stopping by this page!

The following post by Kimmie (Jen’s wife) to learn more about them, about Jen’s diagnosis and what they’ve been dealing with the last 5 months:

“Hello everyone!

A little backstory-

My wife, Jennifer, and I have been married over 10 years now, together for 13. I joke that since this our 13th year together, we were bound to face some unlucky hurdles. 

If you know us, you know we complete each other like a jigsaw puzzle. Jennifer is the bubbly, smiley, outgoing and free-spirited one. Me on the other hand, I’m the more serious and sarcastic jokester, the planner and protector.

On February 11th, Jennifer noticed a lump on her breast along with some pain. She immediately made an appointment which was weeks out.

She was getting mammograms every year and had not had any issues, so we thought it was a cyst or infection of some sort.

This started a whirlwind of appointments; exams, imaging, biopsies, etc…

Pretty quickly, we learned it was likely cancer and once the biopsy was completed, we learned it was invasive ductal carcinoma. Further imaging showed she had two masses in her left breast and the cancer had spread to 7/8 lymph nodes in her left armpit/chest area.

Luckily, the cancer has not spread anywhere else in her body which we are extremely grateful for.

Her team at Virginia Mason has put together a very aggressive treatment plan. Chemo every other week for 8 rounds to start. We have 2 rounds of chemo left at this point. We will soon be having discussions to determine what type of surgery she will have, most likely a double mastectomy. From there, she will have radiation daily for 5-6 weeks followed by a chemo pill for 2-3 years. She will also undergo reconstruction surgery next year.

No one ever wants the big C word in their life. We certainly didn’t… we spent the first month after her diagnosis in a complete and utter depression and state of shock.

As we educated ourselves more and felt more security and hope through speaking with her doctors, family and friends, their optimism began to shape a more positive outlook in our minds.

We did not want to have a pity party and wallow in our misfortunes. We decided we were going to fight this battle with every ounce of grit we had in us.

I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of Jennifer for being as strong as she has been through this entire journey. She’s blown me away quite honestly. Sure, she’s had her moments, but her resilience and fight within her continues to triumph.

We’re at a place now where we are doing OK mentally and emotionally. We have a lot of gracious people in our lives who have been asking how they can help us or what they can do. The reality is, there’s not much anyone can do! That’s one of the most frustrating parts, not even I can help make this go away or take her pain away on bad days. We are getting by, day by day, and some days are definitely better than others.

A big stress we’ve been dealing with is the financial burden. A lot of people have told us, well, don’t worry about the money, her life is more important and the cost doesn’t matter. While that is 100% true, the reality is that we still need to be able to pay our bills so we can provide a stable life for Jennifer to recover in.

Worrying about money while trying to beat an illness such as cancer is a troubling truth that so many people face, including us.

The biggest impact has been loss of wages and medical bills. Though, she’s tried to work as much as possible, there are many days that she is too sick to work and she has not been getting paid a significant percentage of her wage when she isn’t there. Currently, we’re battling the state after they denied her leave but we hope to get that corrected soon. Unfortunately, we’ve also recently been denied financial aid assistance.

Luckily, I haven’t missed much work, but that will change when she has surgery to recover from and further, more demanding treatment. If I have to take an LOA of any kind, it is completely unpaid, so we are trying to avoid that.

As medical bills keep piling and paychecks get smaller, this is truly the one way people can help that would bring us some sense of relief.

We know and completely understand that everyone is feeling the burden of inflation and cost of living these days and in no way expect anything from anyone! We are simply creating this fundraiser for those who have expressed interest in helping us and who are able to help us.

Whatever money is raised will be used to pay her medical bills and cover expenses related to her care.

We love and appreciate everyone who has reached out to send positive thoughts and prayer, sending meals to us, offering to help me walk to dogs, pick up groceries and all the other ways you’ve been sending us love and support.

We will definitely beat this, no matter what!”