You think you've heard it all when it comes to inspiring stories of courage... and then.

Meet my friend,  Sara Sweeney.

You ever have one of those friends you would drop everything to help in a heartbeat?  Sara is that friend for me.  She's the kind of friend that sends birthday, thank you AND Christmas cards - or just a random handwritten letter to cheer you up.   Hell, Sara sends cards to my mom!  My mom LOL.
Sara is that friend that just knows what is ever so important in your life, even the small things,  and shows up to ALL of those moments.  Not as the center of attention... but, as that person in the wings saying: "yes you matter and you matter to me."  That is Classic Sara Sweeney.   Friendships matter.

This is a story that involves 1 barbaric surgery,  28 radiation treatments, 7 chemo appointments,  4 more brutal surgeries and 38 hours in an hyperbaric oxygen chamber...  A friend,  her cancerous tumor,  and a promise of a new nose unfulfilled.  READ ON! It's truly inspiring,

In the fall of 2016,  I got the dreaded call you always hear about.  Sara told me she was diagnosed with Stage III / N0 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of nose and nasal septum. N0 means that no lymph nodes were affected, i.e.: cancer had not spread to lymph system.  The prognosis was grim, the cancer was very advanced and aggressive, and so the treatment plan had to be too.  The first phase of treatment Sara had to endure would be a total Rhinectomy. 

“What is that?”

“They have to remove my nose… my entire nose from my face to get rid of the tumor.”

“Oh…..” "THEY HAVE TO REMOVE YOUR NOSE?!" 

Let that sink in.  She had to have her entire nose removed from her face...  As part of the surgical procedure they would take tissue from bone grafts in her arm and fold down a triangular flap of skin from cut from her forehead and flipped down in order to build the base for a new nose.  The ongoing surgical plan... 7 more surgeries and Sara would have a new functioning nose.  But in addition aggressive radiation treatments.

Sara's surgery to remove the cancer and her nose was mostly a success. But, post-surgery they discovered that they had not gotten clear margins from the cancer.  Initially the post-surgery treatment plan was just radiation - so now chemo had to be added to the mix to be certain she would be cancer free.

To say her post surgery recovery was excruciating is an understatement.  2017:  Sara started the New Year facing 28 radiation treatments and 7 chemotherapy treatments on the heels of the barbaric surgical procedure.   And out of work for six months.  Please follow along with the instagram link here to see the pictures as you read.  My words only paint a fraction of her suffering.  
https://www.instagram.com/gotyurnose/ 

I was able to be with Sara on her last week of combined treatment.  Here she was going through this aggressive treatment protocol with awful side effects, and yet she drove herself to every treatment session.  Sara had even developed a friendly relationship with the parking attendant!  They always shared a few words and a chuckle together when she would enter and exit the parking garage each day. 

Classic Sara Sweeney.  Smile and be kind to everyone you encounter, no matter your circumstances.  If she had some sort of phobia about how people would react to her appearance - you would not notice it.  Sara carried a brave, radiant face in all her public encounters. 

Funny Story.  While I was in Philly with her, we were shopping for food for a reunion dinner with friends.  It was a blustery winter evening.  Now there was even one more thing Sara had to suffer living with during all of this....that damned "trumpet."   A large piece of hard plastic shoved up into the area they were trying to build a new nostril.  We had already had a few laughs around that trumpet the week I was there. We laughed at envisioning a ceremony around a bonfire to burn that thing. . Well, we got out of the grocery store - bags in hand- and a huge gust of wind blew out her trumpet.  Drop. Bags. Run. Like. Hell.  In circles.  We ran around that parking lot like chicken's with our heads cut off trying to catch that thing...  I don't know about you... If that had been me, I would have been cursing and sobbing on the ride home.  Not Sara.  Hearty laughter. 

Classic Sara Sweeney.  Laugh no matter how hard it hurts... no matter what the circumstances.

(Now to backtrack just a bit.. Sara Met Katie, the love of her life - shortly before her diagnosis.  They started dating and BAM. CANCER! Lucky for Sara,  Katie is a renowned expert in the field of cancer and kinesiology.  Katie put Sara on strict daily regimen of nutrition and supplements to nourish and support her immune system. Things like drinking fresh bone broth multiple times a day. (ICK)  Katie and Sara really didn't have that "honeymoon" phase of their relationship. They were thrown into the deep end so quickly their heads were spinning. )  Katie hosted a dinner on the eve of Sara's Surgery.  She bought an assortment of costume noses for them all to wear. Clown noses, cartoon noses, animal noses...  Classic Katie. Katie became that safe harbor for Sara during that horrible year ahead.  Finally some good news!  May 14, 2017  Sara was deemed cancer free - and Katie asked her to marry her!!!!

It gave Sara something to look forward to as she began what was to be a series of 7 painful surgeries to reconstruct her nose.  But, after her  4th surgery they informed her that the tissue they were using to rebuild her nose was necrotic from all the radiation.  In other words, the skin was too damaged to continue reconstruction surgeries.  Sara had to undergo another 38 Hyperbaric Oxygen treatments to save the remaining healthy tissue.  And after all of this she would still have no nose.

The only way forward for Sara to have any opportunity  to have some sense of a nose is to get a prosthetic nose.  So Katie and Sara postponed their wedding so they could focus on crossing a finish line for this.  Katie and Sara have researched the prosthesis procedure and they located a clinic in Wisconsin that will craft a prosthetic nose and finally give Sara some dignity.

This should come as no surprise,  but after battling with her insurance company,  they will only cover 50% of the costs for the procedure.  That is after Sara appealed and filed paperpwork to fight the insurance company considering the procedure as "not medically necessary."    Who are these insurance people?  I mean, do they look at her pictures?! Do they not have a heart?

Please follow the instagram link here to see the pictures.  My words only paint a fraction of her suffering.  https://www.instagram.com/gotyurnose/

Now... Here's where you enter the story.

I have seen on Facebook various Go Fund Me campaigns for situations such as this.  And it occurred to me to do this for my dear friend Sara.  I am asking friends and family to reach into your heart and deep into your pockets to help this wonderful human being - Sara - to cover remaining costs for this procedure.  The estimated outstanding cost of the procedure and travel expenses is $5000.  I am setting March 1st, 2019 as the deadline to raise the money to complete the procedure.

Now,  frankly I would like to BLOW the top off of that $5,000 goal.  Originally it was my hope to help give Sara her nose prosthetic paid for AND with whatever surplus maybe they could finally go on a honeymoon in paradise for all Sara has suffered... Having lost a few wonderful things she had looked forward to and all....  Yet,  Sara's response to that was "Whatever we get above the $5,000 - I will donate toThe Jimmy Fund,  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute."

Classic Sara Sweeney.  "It is not about me.  It's about fighting cancer."

So to recap.  One barbaric life altering Rhinectomy,  28 abrasive radiation sessions,  7 nauseating chemo treatments. Then, 4 more excruciating surgeries followed by 38 visits to the Hyberbaric Oxygen Chamber...and at the end of this long and debilitating journey, the promise of dignity - dashed.

Let us gather together and help Sara get her prosthetic covered.   Let her heroic tale be the one thing that inspires you today.  And let that inspiration multiply like the fishes and the loaves,  and let us find others to help thanks to her heroics.  Please share this post!

I don't know about you, but I want the insurance companies of the world to see how many of us think the procedure is NECESSARY for Sara's happiness.   I mean, if happiness isn't medically necessary then I don't know what is.
 
Thank you.