Support Liz's Healing Journey

Hello, My name is Willow Valdez.

My Mother, Liz (Harrington) Socia was diagnosed with Malignant Phyllodes, a rare form of breast cancer, in May of 2023. She underwent an emergency surgery at the Stanford Medicine Cancer Center just a few days after her proper diagnosis, leaving her business behind unexpectedly. Liz has been a Licensed In-home Childcare provider in the Northwest Reno area for more than 19 years, providing the community with care and amazing education for countless children.

With the help of friends and family, her recovery was smooth and she was able to get back to work and rebuild her business over the last year. She worked throughout her radiation treatments last summer and has been able to maintain quarterly visits with numerous doctors for regular checks.

On August 22nd, Liz discovered a new tumor on her previous surgery site, resulting in a reoccurrence diagnosis.

Liz is preparing for two major surgeries within two weeks of each other at Stanford again; her first on October 7th, 2024 and the second on October 21st. The first surgery will require her to have a Wound Vac, leaving her bed bound for two weeks. Her second surgery will require her to stay at the hospital and in a hotel for one week, then she will be sent home to recover until December. Because of the severity of the procedures, she will be unable to lift anything over 5lbs for at least 6 weeks post op, but still plans to get back to work almost immediately with an assistant, cutting her recovery time by three weeks.  

Liz has plans to shut down her business for at least a month, which will mean she has no active income. Liz has scheduled a sub to come in and run her program for two weeks at a rate of $580 per week, in addition to the usual expenses of running her business; all with limited active income in hopes to keep her business up and running for when she returns.

With no Medical Leave or active income, she is struggling to come up with ways to make sure her home is secure and her business isn’t threatened again.

I’m hoping to alleviate as much stress for her as I can during this time so she can make a safe and speedy recovery!

Thank you and I love you guys!

-Willow