Help Sarah Fight Triple Negative Breast Cancer

On December 19, 2024, our dear friend Sarah Niileksela was diagnosed with aggressive (Grade 3) Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. After getting to spend time with her family in Texas for Christmas, she returned to Lawrence, where medical appointments, tests, frustrations, and unknowns have become her new reality.

Triple Negative Breast Cancer is an aggressive form of cancer and therefore unfortunately needs to be met with aggressive treatment. If all goes according to plan, Sarah will begin many, many weeks of immunotherapy and chemotherapy treatments, followed by more rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and then more immunotherapy.

Sarah has her amazing husband of nearly 19 years, Chris, alongside her during this battle. Chris has a steady job and insurance that thankfully covers them both, but Sarah is self-employed as the owner of Sunflower Music. There are many great things about being self-employed, but one of the major drawbacks is no paid medical leave or vacation days. If Sarah doesn’t work, she doesn’t get paid for most contracts. She hopes to work as much as possible during treatment, but it won’t always be possible, creating another layer of stress.

It is obvious to all who know Sarah that she truly loves her work as a music therapist and is AMAZING at what she does. She is a loyal friend to many, and I wholeheartedly believe that she was born to help others (both in the human and canine form!). I hope that those of us who have benefited from Sarah’s giving heart will rally around her and support her in return during this difficult time.

As Sarah is likely to be overwhelmed in the upcoming days, please follow Sarah’s CaringBridge page for updates at https://www.caringbridge.org/site/1adb6dfb-c099-11ef-afbf-0b8f035653ac?utm_source=website_share&utm_medium=share_button&utm_term=&utm_content=link_share_button&utm_campaign=private_home_page