Brittany's Second Fight
Donation protected
My name is Brittany and I'm 30 years old. I'm many things but most importantly, I'm a cancer survivor. I have faced a lot of challenges in my life already but this particular obstacle has gotten the best of me. I've always been a fighter and I will never stop my fight with cancer.
At the young age of 18, I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. It was around the holidays and I was shopping with my mom and brother when my mom all of a sudden noticed a large lump in my neck. My mom is a registered nurse so she obviously thought that this was unusual, started feeling it and asked me right away if it hurt. I said no and she expressed her concerns that we should get it checked out as soon as possible. Next thing I know, I was seeing all these doctors and getting all these tests done still not knowing exactly what was wrong with me. After all my tests came out negative, my mom still felt uneasy about it. She knew something was wrong. My surgeon ended up being one of her friends and he was the one that suggested to open me up and take a closer look. I ended up having a thyroidectomy where he found a malignant tumor the size of a golf ball. My doctor told me that I got it checked just in time and that my mom saved my life. It was also the day he told me that my life will never be the same and he was right.
I found out that this type of cancer is more common in females than males and usually the peak onset ages are between 30 to 50 years old. At that time, I was barely an adult, a freshman in college just figuring out my whole world had turned upside down. Because of this, I never had the opportunity to be a "normal" young adult. I had to grow up quickly, learn how to survive and take responsibility for my life while all of my peers were enjoying their college experiences. I never knew how much this life-altering event would affect me so much. I soon realized that I would be seeing doctors for the rest of my life and that I needed to take my medication every morning. If I missed taking it for a few days, I would notice drastic changes in my hormones that help regulate normal bodily functions. I started falling in and out of depression. I lost a large amount of my weight which lead to feeling self - conscious all the time and low self esteem. I would avoid going out with friends as a result and became progressively more anti-social. If I didn't take care of myself or get checked up normally, it would affect my health and well being dramatically. If I didn't work hard or worked enough hours, I'd fall into debt quickly which has happened way too many times, unfortunately. I started to realize that I was a young adult working hard to literally save my own life and I struggle even more now that it has returned. Bills continue to rack up and snowball, affecting every aspect of my life with debt. Once I hit 26, I needed to pay for my own health insurance which everyone knows, is currently an ongoing debate in our country.
12 years later, my thyroid cancer has come back. This past year and a half has been quite difficult for me. Going through a number of tests/scans and getting checked up with multiple doctors again. My current doctor highly suggested surgery after multiple ultrasounds and tests which showed a number of malignant masses. Time was of the essence, I had my second surgery immediately to take out the 6 nodules in my neck. The first time around, I went through a radioactive iodine therapy which put me in isolation at the hospital for about a week. This time I will be going through a high dosage of radiation treatment in a couple weeks which will again put me in isolation for a few days. The doctor suggested a higher radiation this time to eradicate as many remaining cancer cells as possible. Because of my surgery and treatment, I've been out of work for awhile and exhausted all options on my health insurance plan. Since I work in the hospitality industry, my employer doesn't provide healthcare coverage and therefore, I have to pay everything out of pocket. I made a choice to choose the best possible course of action with doctors and treatments to help prevent this horrible cancer from ever coming back. These choices have made the financial side of my situation a tremendous challenge for me. My family suggested I start a GoFundMe page to help my efforts and alleviate some of the burden I've been facing throughout this time.
I fought this once before, I know I'll fight it again with the help and support I continue to receive from my family, friends and loved ones. This time, I know what to expect, I'm more informed about my situation and I've accepted that this is a battle I will continue to fight for the rest of my life whether it continues to come back or not. With the generosity of those reading this, if possible, I hope to be able to give back one day to help young adults fighting cancer and help them find their way back to living their lives as normal as possible. I especially want to contribute to the efforts for finding a cure. This past year of seeing specialists after specialist, a doctor I saw at Stanford had shared with me that thyroid cancer has been more prevalent in Filipinos than any other ethnicity. As a Filipino-American, I hope to continue to help fight this disease by sharing my story.
At the young age of 18, I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. It was around the holidays and I was shopping with my mom and brother when my mom all of a sudden noticed a large lump in my neck. My mom is a registered nurse so she obviously thought that this was unusual, started feeling it and asked me right away if it hurt. I said no and she expressed her concerns that we should get it checked out as soon as possible. Next thing I know, I was seeing all these doctors and getting all these tests done still not knowing exactly what was wrong with me. After all my tests came out negative, my mom still felt uneasy about it. She knew something was wrong. My surgeon ended up being one of her friends and he was the one that suggested to open me up and take a closer look. I ended up having a thyroidectomy where he found a malignant tumor the size of a golf ball. My doctor told me that I got it checked just in time and that my mom saved my life. It was also the day he told me that my life will never be the same and he was right.
I found out that this type of cancer is more common in females than males and usually the peak onset ages are between 30 to 50 years old. At that time, I was barely an adult, a freshman in college just figuring out my whole world had turned upside down. Because of this, I never had the opportunity to be a "normal" young adult. I had to grow up quickly, learn how to survive and take responsibility for my life while all of my peers were enjoying their college experiences. I never knew how much this life-altering event would affect me so much. I soon realized that I would be seeing doctors for the rest of my life and that I needed to take my medication every morning. If I missed taking it for a few days, I would notice drastic changes in my hormones that help regulate normal bodily functions. I started falling in and out of depression. I lost a large amount of my weight which lead to feeling self - conscious all the time and low self esteem. I would avoid going out with friends as a result and became progressively more anti-social. If I didn't take care of myself or get checked up normally, it would affect my health and well being dramatically. If I didn't work hard or worked enough hours, I'd fall into debt quickly which has happened way too many times, unfortunately. I started to realize that I was a young adult working hard to literally save my own life and I struggle even more now that it has returned. Bills continue to rack up and snowball, affecting every aspect of my life with debt. Once I hit 26, I needed to pay for my own health insurance which everyone knows, is currently an ongoing debate in our country.
12 years later, my thyroid cancer has come back. This past year and a half has been quite difficult for me. Going through a number of tests/scans and getting checked up with multiple doctors again. My current doctor highly suggested surgery after multiple ultrasounds and tests which showed a number of malignant masses. Time was of the essence, I had my second surgery immediately to take out the 6 nodules in my neck. The first time around, I went through a radioactive iodine therapy which put me in isolation at the hospital for about a week. This time I will be going through a high dosage of radiation treatment in a couple weeks which will again put me in isolation for a few days. The doctor suggested a higher radiation this time to eradicate as many remaining cancer cells as possible. Because of my surgery and treatment, I've been out of work for awhile and exhausted all options on my health insurance plan. Since I work in the hospitality industry, my employer doesn't provide healthcare coverage and therefore, I have to pay everything out of pocket. I made a choice to choose the best possible course of action with doctors and treatments to help prevent this horrible cancer from ever coming back. These choices have made the financial side of my situation a tremendous challenge for me. My family suggested I start a GoFundMe page to help my efforts and alleviate some of the burden I've been facing throughout this time.
I fought this once before, I know I'll fight it again with the help and support I continue to receive from my family, friends and loved ones. This time, I know what to expect, I'm more informed about my situation and I've accepted that this is a battle I will continue to fight for the rest of my life whether it continues to come back or not. With the generosity of those reading this, if possible, I hope to be able to give back one day to help young adults fighting cancer and help them find their way back to living their lives as normal as possible. I especially want to contribute to the efforts for finding a cure. This past year of seeing specialists after specialist, a doctor I saw at Stanford had shared with me that thyroid cancer has been more prevalent in Filipinos than any other ethnicity. As a Filipino-American, I hope to continue to help fight this disease by sharing my story.
Organizer
Brittany Joy Luna
Organizer
South Pasadena, CA
