Hi, my name is Susan Rex and on December 15th (yes, on my birthday) I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer. My cancer, this time, is located in multiple locations in my body. The most concerning were the tumors located on my spine. this led to a very quick treatment plan of radiation, kyphoplasty on my L3 vertebrae, and a visit with a neurosurgeon to discuss the tumor in the T2-T3 area of my spine. This visit showed significant damage to my vertebrae in that area which would require surgery to place rods in my back.

While we were in the process of getting all of this planned and working through the medication part of my treatment, I was not able to work consistently. I was extremely lucky to have excellent support from my family, as well as my work family. My husband became my full-time caregiver. This put a strain on us financially as he was unable to continue his transporting business and I was put on short-term disability.

Surgery on my back was done on April 5th and I spent 5 days in the hospital before being allowed to go home. Luckily I was able to go home to recover with my husband and my daughter being able to care for me.

There are many up-and-down days with a Stage 4 Cancer diagnosis. Each time we go for a new scan we have to hope that the treatment plan we are following will show no new growth of tumors. We know that it will not go away. I have started a bucket list and am trying to spend all the time that I can with my family.

***no raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to my GoFundMe