Support Arlene's Fight Against Breast Cancer

Hi my name is Arlene Cervantes and on Jan 26th I had no clue my life would be turned upside down when I received a breast cancer diagnosis at the age of 36. while working I started feeling sharp stabbing pains that were extreme and prompted me to go to an Urgent Care where I would receive a referral to go for an ultrasound & mammography.

My diagnosis is stage 3 triple negative metastatic breast cancer. I have no genetic markers! It is a rare form that has a growth rate of 1% each day & spreads faster than other types of breast cancers where my doctors stated that they/we would need to act fast.

Prior to receiving my diagnosis at the end of January I had already made two trips to the ER between August & September with concerns of cancer but was told I was too young, and my numbers were good so they referred me out to my gynecologist where I would be told again, I was "too young for mammogram as I am not over 40 and insurance would not cover. Self-advocating for my health has been a difficult and challenging task which should not be, but I was happy to finally get some doctors that would listen to me.

I was able to start treatment on February 8th and

my treatment plan is 12 weekly treatments of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, 4 weekly treatment of Adriamycin "red devil" along with immunotherapy a possible double mastectomy surgery with radiation to follow and a maintenance phase after.

I do not know the full process as everything depends on how my body responds to treatment and surgery.

If you have made it this far, I appreciate you, and I am grateful you have taken the time out of your personal day to allow me to share my story with you. This is something that has taken a heavy mental and emotional toll on not only myself but my family as well as I have one younger sister who is facing a recurrence currently and a 2nd younger sister who battling a chronic disease.

I have not been able to work as I was working in the hospital as a patient transporter and chemo treatment have lowered my immune health preventing me to work in direct patient care and as a health coach/personal trainer my health & wellness side business has also been extremely affected due to doctor appointments, treatment, and daily side effects limiting me on what I can cutting my income drastically leaving financial burned on my family.

From being a personal trainer health coach and patient transporter in radiology helping and working with people daily has given me a strong sense of purpose and my next career goal was to pursue radiology technician alongside my business.

If you are able to just share my story and link, I appreciate you and thank you.

If you can donate, no donation is too small.

Your donations will help me pay for the surgery, continued treatment, medical expenses, some bills and living expenses as it's all accumulating fast. My insurance has covered some of my expenses and have gotten me this far into treatment and I cannot be more grateful to have it as an aid, but my surgery and continued treatment and medical bills are my next financial hurdles.

I would be overly grateful for any assistance/donations I receive.

I thank God that the cancer was found in time and my doctors were able to act fast, but I also know this is just the beginning and this will be a long trying journey to healing and recovery.