At 17, when most young people are thinking about college, traveling, being free, my younger sister was experiencing her first heart break, the loss of our mother to breast cancer. It had been a long battle for our mom and we were both beside her every step of the way. We were there when mom decorated her walker with pink ribbons, we were there for walks on the beach, when she lost her hair, when she lost the ability to fully communicate, and to the very end when she passed away. Knowing and loving my mother was an amazing experience but seeing someone you love pass away from cancer is heart breaking. It also installs a deep sense of fear for the path your own life will take.
 
My sister, Subhadra, and I were told from a young age that once we turned 30 we would need to start getting annual mammograms and stop taking birth control, because we were at a high risk for breast cancer (our grandmother and aunt had both been diagnosed as well). At 30, after feeling a lump in her breast, Subhadra has been diagnosed with breast cancer. The timing couldn’t be worse as she and her husband were just starting to try for their first child and working towards buying a house in Charleston, SC where they live.
 
Within days of hearing the news, Subhadra, her husband Andrew, her father and I were spending countless hours in doctor’s offices, learning what the options were. We were dressed in matching shirts and calling ourselves “Team Subhadra”- anything to stay positive and keep the fear and sadness at bay. One of the hardest appointments came on May 14th. Subhadra and Andrew met with a fertility specialist and were told that their plans for having children would be a much more difficult path. The drugs and surgeries ahead have the potential to cause serious harm to Subhadra’s ovaries, making it difficult or maybe even impossible to conceive. The drugs and procedures of freezing eggs or embryos will increase Subhadra and Andrew’s chances at having children later on, when her cancer battle is over. As if that blow wasn’t hard enough, these costs are not covered by insurance.

The road ahead is a hard one. There are so few things that we are in control of right now. We have already had many calls asking for money that we simply don’t have, to pay for the many treatments Subhadra will need to fight for her life. The fertility clinic asks for most costs up front. Subhadra is a second grade teacher and her doctors were very clear that she would need to take some time away from the children to protect her immune system. Her students are her source of joy and this is very hard for her. We can’t help but face the reality that this fight for Subhadra’s life will be an expensive one.

We are grateful for any and all donations and prayers. The money will be used to help pay for the fertiltiy services to allow Subhadra and Andrew to have chidlren, to help with living costs as they are on this journey, and for the medical costs that continue to pile up during this battle against breast cancer. 

Please follow Subhadra's journey through journal entries on Subhadra's CaringBridge