Jannine Humphrey, one of my close friends, has unfortunately received a diagnosis of breast cancer. I have know Jannine for over ten years, and she has asked me to create this fundraising page to help her cover her upcoming medical expenses.

Jannine has medical insurance but is facing upcoming medical bills for appointments, surgery, and medication. She may also need to take time off of work to recover from surgery. She is hoping for the support of her friends and family during this difficult time.

Jannine's friend, Leah Ave'Lallemant, has provided information regarding Jannine's diagnosis and prognosis. I have abridged that information below:

Jannine found a lump in her left breast on September 13th. She went to Wake Radiology for a diagnostic mammogram on October 3rd, then a biopsy on October 16th. Biopsy results returned on October 17th, and they indicated that the lump she felt was a malignant tumor (cancer).

Her cancer is stage 1B (out of 4). This means it was caught very early and has not spread outside of the breast. Breast cancer is staged based on the size of the tumor, where it has spread, and pathological factors (cell type) of the tumor. Jannine's tumor is ~4cm in size, which [her doctor] called "medium." She had two lymph nodes biopsied at the same time the tumor was biopsied, and those lymph node biopsies were normal, so there is a very low chance there is cancer elsewhere in her body.

Treatment plan is still pending but will be finalized early next week. To finish the treatment plan, we need the HER2 final result (should be back by [10/27/25]), and she needs to have a breast MRI (scheduled for [10/24/25]).

Surgery to remove the tumor is the most likely first step. Surgery will definitely need to happen, and there are a few options. [Jannine's doctor] explained that she could do a lumpectomy (removing just the cancerous part of the breast, sparing the normal breast tissue) or a mastectomy (removing the entire left breast). The results of the breast MRI will help determine which of these is needed. A mastectomy would require 4-6 weeks of recovery, whereas a lumpectomy would require only 1-2 weeks of recovery. A lumpectomy would need to be followed by radiation treatments to the remaining breast. A mastectomy would not require radiation. A lumpectomy+radiation has essentially the same survival outcome as having a complete mastectomy. The only difference would be that if there is remaining breast tissue, as there would be with a lumpectomy, there is a 20-25% chance of the cancer coming back in that breast. Regardless of which surgery she has, they will also biopsy additional lymph nodes to be extra sure of the risk of spread.

Chemotherapy is likely not needed. This is excellent news, because many people who have cancer will tell you that the chemotherapy is harder than the cancer itself.

Prognosis: Jannine is going to be okay, and she's in very good hands. [Her doctor] was reassuring that this is treatable disease and not in any way a death sentence.