In october I ended up in the Marian Emergency room for a panic attack. I have never had them before and thought I was having a heart attack. Then a month later, despite the labs being fine and them giving me an anti-anxiety med, I ended up back in the Emergency Room at Arroyo Grande. My labs were fine, bloodwork good. I wore a heart monitor for 2 weeks and thankfully my heart is ok. The doctors reassured me I was healthy. I had also been having concerning symptoms for 6 months that I thought were related to my stage 4 endometriosis that I had surgery for in 2019. I asked my doctor for a colonoscopy, and they wrote a referral for the mail in test. My insurance denied the mail in test because I'm only 44, not 45. I pushed back for the colonoscopy.

Waking up from it, the GI Doctor told me they had found a 5 cm mass. After CT Scans, and bloodwork, meeting with a GI Surgeon, and Oncologist, it was determined that I have colon cancer and need surgery. My body was telling me something was seriously wrong, and now the panic attacks have thankfully stopped. But I have to get a colon resection surgery to remove the cancer. All these doctors appointments add up, there are thousands of dollars owed for the tests, the copays, the scans. My surgery will cost more money.

Our daughter was born at the end of covid, and because of that, I could not find daycare for her because everything was closed and had massive waitlists. I just now got hired part time to work at her school, but will be unable to work while I am healing from my surgery and getting treatment. I am taking care of her while also navigating this diagnosis. We live off of one income and are grateful to be able to do so, but our savings are gone and now we have thousands of dollars of debt from medical bills.

Any amount helps us, and we are so grateful that I am able to get treated here locally and get the care that I need to be healthy, take care of our daughter and eventually work again outside of the house at her school.