Hi! My name is Stephanie. I don't even know where to start, so I am going to jump right in. I live in Las Vegas with my husband (Bill), daughters (Chelsea and Heather), and my dad. Most of us live in the same house.

A bit of time has passed since I started this, so let me begin again with my story. Over the past 2 years I have been working to "catch up" on my routine healthcare. Unfortunately it became anything but routine quickly.

Last year we were focusing on my cancer screenings, aware that I was starting a bit late with them. When we did my mammogram they found an area of concern, so we did a more detailed mammogram, then a biopsy. They didn't find cancer, but there is a high risk lesion that requires further investigation. We were planning on a lumpectomy until....

I also needed to get my first colonoscopy. Those results were unexpected. They were unable to complete the colonoscopy due to a mass blocking colon. They were able to get a biopsy though, and that came back as adenocarcinoma. That put the breast surgery on hold while we dealt with the known cancer.

After some additional imaging, the tumor board decided that our best course of action would be to remove the tumor and follow up with 12 weeks of chemotherapy. The surgery went really well (bless the robot arms) but they did discover a large number of lymph nodes showing cancer cells.

We are half way though the 12 weeks of chemotherapy. There have been some bumps along the way. Since Christmas I have been to the ER 4 times, had several trips to urgent care and my primary care doc. During one of those ER trips they discovered a 2cm mass (low density area) in my pancreas and we're investigating that now.

The issues that began the ER trips have largely resolved, but those bills are arriving and that's part of where I need your help. Since it's a new year we also have new deductibles and out of pocket limits. Some of the ER doctors were out-of-network, so a higher limit applies. Once I can pay the bills that are arriving I should be covered for the rest of the year (barring denials by the insurance company...but they've been great so far)

I'm currently on a leave of absence from work. It's great to know that I will have a job to return to, but this is the second reason I am asking for your help. About 15% of my take home pay is a shift differential, which isn't included in short-term disability pay. Near the end of March my disability will only pay 60%, so I'm asking for help to fill that gap.

With the help I have received so far we have made great progress. We were able to pause my chemo to allow my current issues to resolve. All of the numbers in my bloodwork indicate that it is working, and we will be able to resume those treatments later this month.

I already had a follow up mammogram and there have been no changes to that lesion so far. They will still want to do the excisional biopsy at some point, but everything is stable there.

We're making arrangements to investigate the lesion on my pancreas. I would not be able to fit everything into the schedule and maintain a full time job, so your help so far has made this possible.

We set up a Facebook page to help keep everyone updated, so I welcome your presence, comments, questions and so on there. https://www.facebook.com/StephanieLemasterCancerUpdates/