Julie was diagnosed on December 31st, 2024, with stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer with spots also on her abdomen.

The beginning of her journey was tough. She was in the hospital until Jan 6th and started chemo the same week. She got out of the hospital on Jan 8th. From Jan to late April, fluid built up around her breast and had to be drained around every 7-10 days, totaling about 7-8 procedures. During this time, she couldn’t sleep in bed and stayed for months in a recliner to keep the pressure and swelling down in her chest area. She had to give up her favorite pastime of baking for people and making their party desserts as it was too much at times. Chemo was exhausting. She always managed to keep busy and keep a positive mindset. By her second PET scan and after 6 months of chemo, things in her abdomen cleared and there was progress in shrinking the breast tumor. Next was a stronger chemo, which is two different formulas. It had similar side effects to previous chemo but a lot more swelling in her left side and terrible joint and muscle pain that kept her down sometimes. The last treatment of this session is August 20th and a new PET scan on August 29th. She is in the process of meeting with general and plastic surgeons and specialists and will be going downtown for surgeries and procedures, which her doctors would like to have going by mid-September.

As you can imagine, the medical bills have been outrageous and will be even more with the upcoming surgeries. With Julie not being able to work, things have been tight. Any help would be much appreciated to help with past and upcoming medical bills and lost wages.