Join Team Terri Anderson : Aid Her Cancer Recovery Costs

Hi, my name is Toni and I am a friend and supervisor of Terri, who is currently going through treatment for breast cancer.

Terri has worked in civil service for many years. From working for Hennepin County for 12 years, doing managed care for 10 years at Beltrami County, assisting customers at the 9th Judicial Courts, and for the last year and a half, working for the MN DNR, on the accounts payable team. She has an infectious positive attitude and smile. She is a great mentor for others that come on the team. Her being able to telework 100% of her time has allowed her to flex her schedule to meet the needs for her chemo treatments and all the other appointments that come with having cancer. This also benefits our team and our employer to keep things running for the DNR. It also has had a positive impact on her mental health as well as the team's.

Terri's story is like many women who simply go in for their annual mammogram and are met with the dreaded, "we need to see you again" call. After additional testing, it was verified Terri had breast cancer. Here is her story from her CaringBridge page:

I had my annual mammogram. Got a call that I had to get another one to see if there was something there. After that, I had to get a biopsy on Christmas Eve. We found out that Friday that I have breast cancer. We met with the oncologist and talked about having a lumpectomy, but then got a breast MRI scheduled. Well, that fun little test changed everything. They found another tumor that was deep in the breast.

Invasive ductal carcinoma, the words I heard that changed our lives forever. I get a mammogram yearly. It wasn't there last year but is here now. They caught it early so that is good. I am asking for your prayers and positive mojo as I am having mastectomy surgery on Friday, January 31.

I want to remind you all to get your annual mammogram, we want you around for a long time. ❤️

After spending three days in the ICU getting blood transfusions and platelets, we can go home. We are armed with a lot of bandages and are ready to start this recovery at home. I have a bunch of appointments set up now. I will have to get a PET scan, a brain MRI, and a heart echo. I will have a post-op appointment and then meet with the oncologist. Wish us luck!

Post-op appointment, they will not be taking the drainage tubes out yet, but we do have all of our appointments set up. I did have to do an ultrasound to check for blood clots and that checked out great. We met with the oncologist and I am set to start chemo once things are all healed and we can get a port placed. We met the team at the infusion center in Park Rapids. As of now, the plan is to do 5 months of chemo followed by radiation and then other treatments. When they did the surgery, not only did they take my left breast, they took out 8 lymph nodes... well, they found cancer in 7 of the 8 that they took.

Had to go to Fargo for a PET scan. (This test will help them see if there is cancer in other places in my body.) Results to follow. Tomorrow, we go to Park Rapids for another post-op appointment and also a brain scan.

GREAT news on the brain scan... no other cancer that they found in my brain.

Because of where Terri lives, she has to drive long distances to her appointments. Due to other conditions caused by the removal of her lymph nodes, she requires compression clothing, which can be challenging to find ones that are comfortable. She has MANY medications that have out-of-pocket costs. We do have good insurance working for the State; however, a lot of things are not covered, especially things like gas to get to her appointments. Her appointments will now be increasing, meaning increased costs for fuel, medications, etc. Then she will be doing daily radiation - more transportation costs.

We are still thankful that she is able to telework, but with the order to return to work, this will affect her ability to continue working during some of her appointments where she cannot be around others. Yes, there are exceptions that can be made, but she will not be able to work the full time she is able to now.

I'm asking that you please support Terri for these extra out-of-pocket medical expenses. We want her to get the treatment she needs so she can continue to be a great member of our team. TEAM TERRI!!!!!!