Join Chelsea's Fight Against Cancer - #MORECHELSEA !

Three years ago, friends and family rallied behind Chelsea Skinner, who at 29 years old and still breastfeeding her first child, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Two years ago, we gathered to rally behind her again, but this time to celebrate her one-year anniversary of being cancer-free and the life ahead of her, her husband, Eric, and son, Eli.

Today, we are rallying behind her again, but this time with a new uphill battle ahead.

For the past two years Chelsea has continued to clear her breast cancer scans, but about a year ago she started having pain in her hip. A few months later, some pain in her shoulder. A few months after that, pain in other parts of her body. She has seen doctors for each concern as they’ve surfaced, and been prescribed medicine and physical therapy, finding nothing beyond strain and inflammation as the expected culprit each time.

But the pain never stopped, and in August it progressed to the point where she started having days she would wake up and not be able to stand, let alone walk. After returning to the doctor and being told it was a simple case of bursitis, she listened to her intuition and pressed for an MRI. Thank God she did-and thank God her doctor agreed to order it-because it resulted in finding a mass on her pelvis and in her hip…something that has been there long enough to have already caused a fracture and tearing within her hip joint.

With this new imaging, her doctors and oncologist reacted quickly, and she has since been treated with the urgency that the situation demands.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Chelsea and Eric, spending hours meeting with specialists from Fresno up to Oakland. Chelsea has been through every necessary scan and test to provide them with a complete diagnosis, which they finally have now:

Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, which has spread to her hip, ribs, and liver.

During the 3 weeks between the first images of the mass on her hip through the final biopsy and diagnosis this week, each test that has come back has only further confirmed the seriousness of the situation. Chelsea and her family have spent this time preparing for the worst, but planning for the best by researching options.

Research and personal anecdotes of success (that have almost miraculously landed on Chelsea’s lap during this short timeframe) have led her to learn about a treatment center outside of the U.S. called Hope 4 Cancer. Not only to learn about it, but to be convinced that this is the right first step to give herself the best chance of treating this and surviving.

Decisions and plans have been made quickly and she leaves this week to start an intensive 3-week treatment program. She will have a long road to follow, with continued treatment at home. She may need other, additional treatments layered on in the future—only time will tell. We pray she won’t.

Because Hope 4 Cancer is outside of the country, it’s an out-of-pocket expense with a large price tag of $50,000. There will be 3 additional out-of-pocket trips they will need to make over the course of the next year as well-the cost of those trips is TBD.

Chelsea and Eric have, of course, knowingly decided to take the expense on because they are confident this program is the best way to help her quickly stop this in its tracks, start repairing the parts of her body already affected, and strengthen her overall so she can fight this with everything she has.

But…we want to remove the weight of this cost for them. Just getting to this point has already put unexpected financial strain on their family. Chelsea also supplements their income by cleaning homes, which she will have to stop now, and for the foreseeable future.

So that brings us here, inviting others to join us. We want Chelsea and Eric to need only focus and worry about her health and healing, without the additional stress of what this will cost. We want them to move forward with their desired plan of action as unburdened as possible. We want to enable them to take every step in any direction they decide, without being influenced by what is or isn’t financially easy.

We want to give Chelsea every fighting chance! ANYTHING that results in more moments, more memories, and more love shared with Eric, Eli (now 3), and her many other family and friends…that’s what we will fight for, for her. And honestly, we’ll fight for this for ourselves too. It’s what we want for all of us whose lives are so deeply enriched by her’s - we want years upon years of #MORECHELSEA! We hope you will join us in that desire, and in making it possible.

Our goal is to raise the following:

Regardless of your ability to help financially, we also humbly ask you to join us in prayer for her healing.

And finally, thank you. Thank you in advance for any support-financial or otherwise-for our Chels…

The life of every party…

“Good Times” planner extraordinaire and

the hostess of countless fun ladies nights…

…the first and loudest to laugh at herself, or her own jokes…

…She chooses to put a (albeit forced!) smile on, even when she’s suffering…

…and she CHOOSES to praise God and focus on the good during this scary storm…

She is the type of daughter and sister we call “best friend” and the type of friend people call “sister.”

 

She’s the twinkle in Eli’s eye and the center of Eric’s universe.

We could go on for days about who she is, and what she means to us, but simply:

She is the joyful, playful, outrageously fun (and hilarious!) heart of our family and we cannot thank you enough for supporting and loving her through this with us.