AN UPDATE FROM ROCHELLE:

Its been a year today (September 25) since my breast cancer diagnosis. What a journey this has been! I am overall very well. I have been able to take time off of work thanks to everyone’s generosity, and really focus on healing. I take a lot of time for rest and feel that this has allowed my body to heal more quickly and give myself a “reset” to the stress that I believe played a factor in my hormone positive cancer cells developing.

With my current chemo regimen, Kadcyla, one of the side effects is low platelets, which I am currently experiencing. This has definitely given me fatigue; however, I am hopeful that with the right diet and supplements my platelets will go back up before the next treatment. If they get too low we have to stop treatment for a while and I do not want to push anything back- keep your fingers and toes crossed!

Thank you all again for your support and love. We are so humbled to be able to focus on our priorities right now and still be able to stay on top of everything else due to your generosity. Please know the incredible impact you have had on our lives in the Alger/Hoskins home.

Rochelle Alger

ROCHELLE'S STORY

Our dear friend, Rochelle Alger, (daughter of Tammy Monday) was diagnosed with metastatic, hormone positive, HER2 positive breast cancer on September 27, 2023. Since then, her family has been navigating a new way of life. She began chemotherapy in October which drastically changed her family dynamic. Chemotherapy side effects were extremely difficult with the first regimen she was on for 6 cycles (18 weeks). After that regimen was completed she had surgery, which consisted of a double mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection on her left side (armpit area).

During surgery they found that the cancer spread from 3 lymph nodes to 7, which meant that the first round of chemotherapy did not work as intended and continued to spread. Because of this, Rochelle is now undergoing continued chemotherapy treatment expected to end in the Spring of 2025. She will continue to get chemotherapy medication every 21 days until then. The hope is that this medication will catch any microscopic cancer cells that could not be detected by scans will be eliminated and also prevent new ones from growing.

Rochelle has had to take a year of medical leave from work and although she does have benefits through work, her pay has been cut in half which has led to increased stress within the family. With all of her medical and every day bills, we are hoping to raise enough money to help relieve that stress so Rochelle can focus on healing.