Melissa Shipp, mother of 5, was recently diagnosed with life threatening breast cancer. She was having pain when nursing her infant son and was initially misdiagnosed with mastitis.  It wasn’t until two weeks, three antibiotics, and a hospital admission later that she was told she didn’t have mastitis; she had two abscesses and they needed to be surgically removed. On October 9th, Melissa had surgery to remove the bacterial abscesses and the surgeon decided to send off a sample of breast tissue to make sure the bacteria hadn’t traveled outside the abscess. On October 10th, the surgeon called to tell Melissa that the tissue sample came back as Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, and she would need to see an oncologist as soon as possible. After several medical appointments she now has an official diagnosis of Inflammatory Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Stage IV. Melissa began chemotherapy this week and is hopeful that her body responds.
We are seeking to raise money to help Melissa and her husband pay their bills so they are not burdened with worrying about finances while fighting this courageous battle for life.   Any and all contributions will help!