Hi! My name is Tina. I am 37 years old, residing in Kent, WA (outside of Seattle). I am a single mother of a wonderful 9 year old boy.

As the people that knows me, I am one to never ask for help. If there was a way to do something myself, I would do it. I've battled thru a recent mental health crisis, a custody court trial for my son, lost my job due to COVID business closure and then lost another job due to my health issues that increased the risk of COVID exposure. This was all within 2 years.

Just when I thought it couldnt get any worse, in September 2021, I was diagnosed with tongue and throat cancer. This type of cancer is usually caused by heavy tobacco use (none for me) or HPV related (negative for me). My doctor was stumped on how I could've had this, not only because I did not meet the "criteria" but because I was so young and there were no genetic links. He simply said "You literally have bad luck" Thanks, Doc.

At first, it was diagnosed as Stage II. Then upon further testing, it is now Stage IV. My prognosis is still good and I love how my doctor and my support team has been positive about it. But the fact that it's Stage IV is quite frightening.

My surgery was on Friday, October 8th and it was a successful tumor removal. But we are still waiting for the results back from my lymph nodes, that were also removed. Depending on the results of that, this will determine the length of time and aggressive of my next treatments.

We are still hopeful that Chemo will not be needed. But since I seem to having "bad luck", I'm not optimistic. I know, I know. I should be positive but it's reality.

For sure, I am going to go thru radiation. This will start within 7-10 weeks after my surgery.

While going thru this, I've had to make some drastic changes in my life. I've downgraded my home from a beautiful 2200 square feet home to a 800 square feet apartment. It has been a huge change for me mentally, physically, emotionally, with everything going on.

One of the biggest changes is that Brayden is temporarily living with his father in Stanwood. Brayden has been my whole entire world since the day he was born. He is everything to me. Having him away from me everyday has been heartbreaking and some days I don't know if I'm crying for him or am I crying because I'm physically in pain from cancer. It's hard to tell these days.

Luckily for me, I have my wonderful love of my life Alex. He has been there for me since the day I found out about cancer. He has been taking care of me 24/7, making sure to wake up every 4 hours to give me medication, help me bathe, blending up my liquid diet, etc. He has literally stopped everything in life and devoted his time to taking care of me. I couldn't have done this without him.

My doctor has stated to me that I cannot work until mid 2022. Alex is going to back to work within the next few weeks so that we can keep up with the household.

Many friends and family have asked how they can help us during this time. It's hard to gage when you're in the beginning stages of treatment, recovery, etc. But since the surgery is out of the way, we can focus on the next steps.

I am physically very weak, I am on a liquid diet since surgery. In total, I have lost 18 lbs since 10/8-10/13. Alarmingly, yes, but not unexpected. With Alex going back to work, I am going to need at home help. We are working on having a rotation of helpers (family, friends) to help care for me and small household chores .

If you are interested in helping in any way: dropping off soft foods, laundering sheets and blankets, cat food, etc. Any financial donations would be welcomed as well. I would greatly appreciative in anything that would help!! You can always reach me directly as well. I may take a while to answer or it may be Alex answering my messages.

Thank you so much and I promise to keep fighting!

Tina