Sharon's Head Start

Last year my mother, Sharon Rivera visited my wife and I at our home one night. After the usual catching, up she told us that she needed to tell us something. Being naïve, my wife and I assumed it was something simple. Unfortunately, we were both wrong. My mother broke down and explained to us that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer………….. A lot of people know that cancer can cause massive amounts of destruction to your body, I can tell you first hand that hearing the word come from your mothers mouth caused just as much destruction to my heart. I was a freshman in High School when my mother’s father lost his battle with lung cancer. I was a sophomore when my father’s mother lost her battle to colon cancer. Losing 2 grand parents to this horrible disease, I know what it is capable of and the toll it takes on your body. NOBODY wants to entertain the thought that their mother would have to go through that. The chemo. The radiation. The hair loss. The sadness. The fear. The fear is a big one. Your mom is the person you go to when you’re scared. Your mom isn’t afraid of the boogeyman under your bed. Your mom isn’t afraid of anything. She is the rock. She is your superhero. This was the first time I saw my mother scared. She was afraid for us, she was afraid for herself, most importantly she was afraid of the uncertainty.

 

After 8 months of treatment including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation she still has a ways to go.  It is even more difficult because my mother has what is known as triple negative breast cancer. To put that in Laymen’s terms. Triple negative breast cancer is like the Michael Jordan of breast cancers. It has a tendency to come back. One of the biggest problems is that after you are cancer free with this type of cancer you essentially play a waiting game. You don’t know if it’s going to come back until it actually comes back. With cancer, that can already be too late! However, a new study is taking place in Los Angeles that is a simple blood test. The test will find the signs that the cancer is going to return in 8.5 months. You know 8 and a half months ahead of time if your cancer will be returning. I encourage you to watch the video to learn about it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSsRgA09a5Q&sns=em&app=desktop 


A head start on treatment, that is truly amazing! My mother found out about the study when she was watching Good Morning America so she applied. Out of 500 people, she was also chosen to participate J . The only minor setback is that while they do take care of all of her medical costs. She has to pay out of her pocket to fly out to California every 90 days until the study opens its hospital in New York. That’s round trip airfare, hotel, food, any other expenses, etc.  If anyone has ever known someone suffering from cancer, the financial burden is sometimes insurmountable. So I am asking you to please donate to helping my mother make it out to California to get this piece of mind and a head start on fighting one of the hardest battles put upon us. I don’t ever want to see my mother afraid again.

Thank you,

God Bless

-Mannie