Support Natalie's Battle Against Breast Cancer

One of my best friends, Natalie, was recently diagnosed with Stage III Grade 3 HER2+ Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, an aggressive form of breast cancer usually afflicting those much older than her. Her right axillary lymph nodes also tested positive for metastasis. She started her cancer treatment last month, consisting of chemo, targeted HER2 therapy, radiation, and surgery, and it will be ongoing for the next year, as will her fight to hold it all together. The bills have already been stacking up in the thousands out of pocket, and her journey has just begun. The fear of such a diagnosis is palpable to anyone. What is going to happen to me? How will this affect my family and friends? What will life be like during and after treatment? How will this affect my job? How am I going to afford the financial burden it brings?

Nat is hardworking and provides for her daughter and her 3 fur babies. She is one of the kindest, most caring people I know. She is loved by all who know her and would do anything for anyone, a perfect example of "why do bad things always happen to good people?"

The last few years of her life have been tough, to say the least. Every time she conquers one battle, another takes its place.

As an only child with a difficult upbringing and parents who struggled to provide, she learned the value of hard work at a young age. Her father wasn't very kind to her and her mother, which created a strained relationship until his passing. After he died, she watched her mother slip away into addiction until she passed in 2023 from cardiac arrest. The very same month, she lost her dog and found herself grieving for two loved ones at the same time. The loss of her mom hit her especially hard, and she still has a hard time coping with it. Being an only child, she was left having to take care of the final preparations alone while she grieved, putting on the face of strength daily.

If things couldn't get worse in 2023, her fiancé was forced to close his business, creating a financial strain. After just recovering from the COVID shutdown, the landlord informed them she was selling the building and tripling their rent. Unable to afford the increase, they were forced to close and leave many in the community without what they felt was home.

With hopes of reopening, her fiancé developed several health conditions which landed him in and out of the hospital for months. He suffers from multiple debilitating disabilities and is unable to hold a regular job. He receives next to nothing in monthly disability, so trying to make ends meet, Nat took on a second part-time job earlier this year. Shortly after, she received her cancer diagnosis. Her full-time job took a month to approve an accommodation for her after initially denying it, and she is now left with no paid time off. So when she has medical appointments and isn't well enough to go to work due to the chemo side effects and weakened immune system, those days are taken unpaid, leaving her with the choice of what gets paid and what doesn't.

Nat has always been the positive one, the person people turn to for help. This time, she's the one needing help. She's always been happy and full of life, but for the first time in her life, she is succumbing to depression and went to her doctor for an antidepressant.

At the young age of 41, she has already had to deal with enough loss and hardship for a lifetime.

We are kindly asking for donations to help ease the financial burden she's been placed under. Money will be used for transportation costs to and from the Cleveland Clinic, medical bills, wigs, household bills, and other living expenses. Your prayers are also much appreciated. If you cannot give, please share this fundraiser with the people you know. It takes a village.

https://www.tiktok.com/@natalielenhart1111?_t=ZT-8xSlv6QFK7D&_r=1