As some may know, my mom, Tina, was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer back in July of 2023. It had already spread to her lymph nodes, and shortly after, when a PET scan was taken, they also found a spot in her groin that was concerning, and that also came back as cancer. In September 2023, she started two types of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. We knew this was going to be a journey, but family and friends were behind her, and she is the strongest woman we know.

As chemo was happening, her body was getting tired, and she could no longer work. In May of 2024, she had a double mastectomy and 16 lymph nodes removed. She immediately started six weeks of intense radiation and continued with immunotherapy every three weeks. In January of 2025, she had a reconstruction surgery, and everything went well. In February 2025, she had a partial hysterectomy to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to prevent further spread of the cancer. About a month went by with a well-deserved break from treatment, and she started going back to work part-time.

Three weeks ago, she started feeling very tired and having some left-side weakness. On April 11, she went to her routine immunotherapy and had a discussion with her oncologist about the weakness. The oncologist immediately sent her to the ER for an MRI of the brain. The MRI came back with terrifying results: a big mass on the right side of her brain that had grown in only two months since her previous MRI. Imaging was sent to a different hospital, and the mass was deemed surgical. She was transferred to that hospital for the on-call neurosurgeon to perform a craniotomy on Sunday, April 13. Surgery went well, and they removed the mass and sent it out to be biopsied. The in-house lab believes this is also metastatic cancer and thinks it may continue to come back.

She has done physical and occupational therapy in the hospital and has since been discharged and returned home on Wednesday. She currently still needs around-the-clock care and continued therapy and radiation. There are plenty of upcoming doctor's appointments and a very long, tough journey ahead. If you could please donate to help this strong woman get financially back on her feet during this difficult time. If you can’t donate, please share! Thank you so much for reading her story.