Dear Family and Friends,

Hi. I’m Erin, and we (the family and I) have created this GoFundMe for Reina Sylve. She is a mother to her beautiful daughter Nova, pregnant (in her second trimester) with her second daughter Rayne and wife to her husband Jason. Though she is young and healthy, she has been dealt some truly devastating news over the last few weeks and could really use not only a listening ear and prayers, but any financial help for her and her growing family.

Here is her story in her own words:

Hello everyone. You may know me as Alejandra, Ale, or Reina. If you know me, you know I love life! After moving from Honduras to Texas, I've tried to live life to the fullest and love with my whole heart. Life has had a lot of changes in the past few years and though they've been scary at times, I’ve persevered because bravery, strength and resilience run strong in my vein’s.

Recently, my life has blessed me with becoming a wife to Jason (our 3 year anniversary is in August ) and mother to Nova. Our beautiful family and life that we have built has been exactly what I’ve always wanted and needed. A couple of months ago, I found out our little family would get a little bigger with our sweet baby girl Rayne. We started prepping and planning despite what we thought was normal pregnancy sickness (nausea, coughs, headaches, vertigo, etc).

In February the headaches became unbearable (no medication would alleviate the pain) and my pneumonia symptoms would not go away. I became violently sick and spent time in and out of the emergency room. On June 20th we received devastating news after going to the Emergency Room at St. Luke’s. My cancer (that I never knew I had) had metastasized, causing a tumor to form in the right side of my brain. I was also told that I potentially had lung and breast cancer. As anyone could imagine, it was absolutely terrifying news, but I knew I had my family to live for, so I decided to push the fear aside and fight! I was transferred later that evening to University Health Women’s & Children’s Hospital. Dr. Stewart and the AMAZING staff and team who have been dedicated to my care have shown nothing but grace, love, understanding, kindness, and an over abundance of care and caution for not only my life, but Rayne’s as well. I’m truly blessed.

Dr. Stewart said that since I was young and healthy he knew I could survive this. That was relieving to hear, but there was still a long journey ahead of me. Something like cancer wouldn't go down without a fight. I had brain surgery on June 27th. The surgeons were successful in removing the largest of 3 tumors; however there were complications during the surgery and due to swelling, they were unable to completely close my skull. Unfortunately that meant another surgery in a few days. After the second surgery on June 30th; which has almost completely removed the headaches (praise GOD), my brain was finally able to start healing and baby Rayne could focus on growing instead of surviving. Things were really looking up! Unfortunately, cancer isn’t fair or lenient or caring of your love of family and all things life. Yesterday, July 7th, I was given the diagnosis no pregnant mother or wife ever wants to receive. Not only do I still have 2 brain tumors, but I also have stage 4 breast cancer.

What an absolute shock and punch in the gut, but did that shake my faith…… ABSOLUTELY NOT! I’ve always been religious, but through this terrible experience my faith has grown and brought me even closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have faith that I make it out of this nightmare cancer free and stronger than I’ve ever been mentally and physically and that Rayne will be born healthy and thriving.

Dr. Stewart’s plan is for me to start chemotherapy, continue to gain strength so I can prayerfully carry Rayne full term and then get a mastectomy. At this time, having Rayne this early would most likely not be survivable for her and that’s just not an option for our family. I’m staying strong and fighting not only for me, but for her…… one of the sweetest and most amazing blessings to come out of all of this turmoil. I want to live…….. no NEED to live to hear Rayne’s first words. Cheer and cry at Nova’s High School Graduation and watch Jason walk them both down the aisle.

Thankfully, Dr. Stewart says both of us can survive and live long normal lives, but we still need financial support to afford the life-saving care we both need. Every contribution, no matter how big or small, will make a meaningful difference in our journey toward recovery. Your generosity will provide me with the peace of mind to focus on what truly matters: my healing, Rayne, Nova and Jason.

Thank you for reading my story. If it touched you, please share it with as many people as you can. Live your life to the fullest and love with your whole heart,

Reina