**This gofundme is to help us cover out of pocket costs associated with surgery and hospitalization to remove a mass in my left lung. My fiancé Kit and I both work at Lowe’s in Oviedo, FL so COVID is a very serious concern for us, especially considering where the mass is located. For my safety, we will both be out of work for at least a month, if not two. 

Anything and everything donated is appreciated more than you can possibly imagine. My story is below. **

My name is Sara. I’m 37 years old. I was supposed to be planning my wedding right now, but things have changed a lot in the last few months.

In November of 2020 I went to the emergency room with a stabbing chest pain. After a number of scans and tests, they came to the conclusion that I must have “pulled a muscles in my chest” or perhaps it was “stress.” There was no sign of blood clots, I hadn’t had a heart attack and their job was to “rule out anything life threatening.” In passing they mentioned a tiny spot on my chest CT, not even 1.6cm x 1.2cm (1.92 square cm) . “Probably just scar tissue from pneumonia or a place where you healed after a lung infection.” They really said nothing more of it, despite my asking several times in the three days I was admitted to the hospital, and sent me on my way. I told them I didn’t have a primary care physician as my work was switching insurance in January and I didn’t know who would be in network... I told them where they could get older scans of my lungs to compare the new scan to... they did nothing.

Fast forward to January 2021 and I have a new doctor. She has my scans for all of 2 hours before telling me this is serious and I need to see a lung specialist. January 19th I have my first lung appointment, where another doctor agrees this is serious and schedules a PET Scan to look for abnormal activity in the area. On February 3rd the scan is performed and on February 12th I have the follow up... 

The mass in my lung is NOT scar tissue, or an area that has healed after infection. It is also not small anymore. It is now 4.3cm x 2.9cm (12.97 square cm). It has tripled in height and doubled in width, so it is nearly 6 times bigger since November. It needs to be removed, now.

So now I will be having lung surgery on March 1st, to remove the top lobe of my left lung. My recovery time is 6 weeks after that. This has leadto a ton of expenses we had zero time to plan for. 

But I have insurance... so why am I here?  Because my health insurance only covers 60% of surgeries and hospitalizations. My out of pocket max is $6000 per year, on top of myself and my fiancé being out of work for 1-2 months so I can heal without risk of serious infection or complication.

**If there are funds remaining once all medical bills and living expenses have been paid, they will be put towards our wedding and honeymoon in October 2021 or 2022 (depending on how well things go with my lung.)**