Hi, it is me, Tanya. I am here to ask for some (a lot of) help. On April 9th, 2025, after months of imaging and a biopsy, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. To say I am devastated is an understatement. We just lost my mother to cancer a year ago after a long and difficult four-year battle. This diagnosis is difficult as we are all still raw and recovering from life without my mom. I have stage 1 grade 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Originally, they thought there was just one tumor, but the MRI found a second tumor. Since I am BRCA1+, the recommendation is a double mastectomy with reconstruction to aid in avoiding recurrence. After I recover from the mastectomy, I will also need to have my ovaries removed to avoid another diagnosis.

I am asking for your kindness because the recovery from this surgery can be 6 to 12 weeks and I simply do not have the funds to be out of work and cover all the expenses and medical bills. The money will be used to ensure that Victor and I have a home. We have lived in our place for over 10 years, we love it and I hope to be able to keep it. Victor is 16 but if we lose our home, I will have to leave Florida and I will also have to leave Victor here in Florida per my divorce decree. I cannot even think of my life without Victor in it every day. I also have three feline children that rely on me completely.

There are a ton of additional expenses: pre-op items, post-op items, prescriptions, co-pays, and deductibles for medical. I will need at least two surgeries, and we still do not know yet if I will need any additional follow-up like chemo or radiation. When they do the surgery, they will remove and test 3 lymph nodes and we will know if any additional intervention is needed.

Thank you for reading this and for helping if you can. I am a ridiculously independent woman but there is a time to ask for help and not try to bear all of this on my own, and now is that time.