Ribbons of Hope For Nancy

    Hi, my name is Amy and I have created this GoFundMe page to help raise money for my little sister.
Well younger than me sister. 
    These fundraisers are for my beautiful little sister. A little about her: Nancy Blackburn Monasmith She is a wonderful daughter, sister, wife, Aunt, cousin, and MOTHER to A Marine (son) who was just stationed in Hawaii and soon to be Japan for 6 months, a MSU student (daughter), 2 wonderful 6 years old twin boys, stepmom to a beautiful daughter overseas in Japan, and an a sporty boy who just graduated high school. She does so much for everyone. Even when she doesn't have it in her to do. She never lets someone go without, whether for birthdays or Christmas, she has adopted families countless times including my children. Whether through her job or on her own. She works hard and has an incredibly difficult and stressful job handling escalated calls.. Which now she can’t return to work because she has Stage 4 Breast Cancer. But it doesn't stop there. This is her 2nd battle with breast cancer. She was diagnosed Aug 9, 2011 with Stage 2 then. After a double mastectomy and countless reconstruction surgeries with complications, she got the news she was in remission. And she stayed there for 2 1/2 years. She even had her port removed. She noticed a hard area along an incision. She asked her plastic surgeon who said it was probably old scar tissue and not to worry too much about it. She had scans done in October and saw Drs. In Oct. and Nov. And in Feb. And Mar. All of which there were Dr. Changeovers and her concerns were over looked telling her she was fine. Then in late May early June she went to see Dr. because the knot was bigger and she was experiencing numbness in her arm. They did a biopsy and it came back positive. They did scans and she went to see her surgeon. They set her up with a new Dr., Who happened to be the director of Oncology. Her appt was set almost 2 weeks out. She had been having back pain and a pinched nerve in leg also. The new Dr. got her chart and bone scan results. And immediately ordered CTS and moved her appt to 2 days later after all scans. He first said it’s localized. Measurements put her Stage 3 on the cusp of 4. He told her she had 2 other tumors under the breast on her chest wall. And ordered a breast MRI he also talked to her about a spot on her hip that could be arthritis or maybe something else and he had concerns. That was on a Fri. He called her (not his nurse) on Monday morning. He said the big tumor was 9cm not 3. He said she has the most aggressive on a scale of 1-3. He also said it’s the original tumor from 2011. That it survived Chemo, radiation, surgery, and years of Tamoxifen. She was also told she had it dating back to at least Oct. And all the Drs She had seen never told her. Never did anything. Her chart clearly stated the growth changes. They dropped the ball. She fell through the cracks. He set an appt for that Fri. He also did head to toe PET scans. Results were in and it was worse than we could have thought. It is in her bones and no longer Stage 3 on the cusp of anything. She is STAGE 4. She has spots on hip, femur, spine, ribs, arm and breast and pectoral muscle. Dr. was really concerned with hip she had to see an orthopedic Dr. to have a stabilizer put in so they can do chemo and radiation. Then she can start chemo again. They have already put a new port in. There is no CURE they can only treat it. He also informed her the median life expectancy is only 5 years but we are unsure since she has now had cancer for over 4 years. All because Drs. didn’t bother to review and check on their patient. Now she must fight for her right to live and watch her children grow and hopefully watch the twins graduate. And watch them all get married and have babies, to hold her future grandchildren. I am having these fundraisers in hope of raising money so that she can still pay her bills since Dr does not want her to go back to work. She had rod placed in leg July 2nd started radiation for 10 treatments. And 2 kinds of chemo ran at same time. Again it’s radiate the areas and chemo then surgery to remove pectoral muscle and breast and tumors. Possible reconstruct again? But she will always have the cancer they say. She got 2nd opinions and is recieving treatments at the cancer treatment centers of America and began July 15. But traveling costs add up quick. Please help me lessen her financial burden of the bills. And ease her stress so she can concentrate on fighting this. after the last round of chemo she came down with Pneumonia and was placed back in the hospital. She was doing treatments at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa every 3 weeks. But when she went this past week for new scans she was dealt a devastating blow. Treatments did not have the results they were hoping for. the femur is better but nothing else, and insult to injury the cancer has spread throughout her spine no longer 1 spot on T9 to L4& 5 as well as T8-10, and active cancer lesions across chest wall, they are going to start a new chemo drug 2 weeks on 1 week off, for 3 to 4 treatments and she will have 25-30 radiation treatments for chest and spine. she will now have to stay long term for at least 5 to 6 weeks and maybe come home on weekends. all of this adds up quickly, she has to pay for her room and meals out of pocket each day, $40 a day for room and meals vary so a minimum of $200 for room every 5 days and at least $150 a week for food if she comes home on weekends . plus gas and maintenance to get to and from treatments. she has to pay out of pocket for supplements and her copays on prescriptions. she has a caregiver go with her to help her each time but now that she will be required to stay much longer it will be much more costly. Her husband has always gone and stayed with her as well as a family member or friend, But he no longer has Paid Time Off and she will be going down to half pay in a matter of weeks, she also still has medical bill and household finances she is struggling with. and Christmas is right around the corner. She relies on family to stay at her house to care for her young boys and get them fed and to and from school.  Ok so nearly every time I go back to the Drs, I get a somewhat slightly different plan. So here's the new one without the he said she said stuff. They are radiating T9-L4 for ten treatments. That's two weeks down here of which I only have two days left. They will not be doing the hyperthermia therapy on me. they also said if we keep going down this same path with chemo not working my life expectancy is less than a year. It was a shock to me cause that isn't enough time for anyone. I will keep fighting , we will keep praying, and I ask you all to as well. They are letting me be home for thanksgiving instead of doing treatment. We also are candidates for a new trial and for me I'll try anything.
I do not want her to quit the fight for fear of putting her family out financially. We know there is no cure and we are trying to prolong her life, she wants to try to make it to see her youngest boys graduate high school in 12 1/2 years time is not her side, and if the Drs had followed up with her scans and results they would have seen that its been bad since at least October 2014. and now she must fight, fight hard to live. she has been through so much already and deserves so much better. she has always been the first to help others even when she does not have it in her to do so. Can you please join me and help spread the word to raise as much as we can to make it less of a burden and stress for her, and allow her to heal after each grueling treatment. she will be getting treatments until it is no longer an option.she is a wonderful person, and loyal wife and mother, and I know she's leaving this in Gods hands, to help her through this.I would like to ask, all my family and friends, who know Nancy and even if you don't know Nancy for your prayers,and thoughts, I know she will also need help as in the past. with her twin 6 year old boys. As well as cleaning her house from time to time preparing the meals doing laundry etc. I would very much like to get this all set in motion and in order so that when she gets her results and course of action we will be ready to help her with her needs and make this so much easier this time to fight. I know she is strong and one of the strongest women I know and I love my sister with all my heart please pray for her often. if you can help with the other things please let me know. let's show her how amazing she is by supporting her through this. We are also selling tshirts, bracelets, lanyards, bumper stickers and hoodies to try to defray costs. Not counting her regular bills and past medical bills I need to raise at least 500 a week for trips to an from Tulsa. We have the (https://www.gofundme.com/ribbonsofhopeforna) . And we have T-shirts, hoodies, lanyards and bumper stickers and Bracelts for sale. Please contact Amy Blackburn Margo for other Donation options or Information and Updates on Nancy and her cause. You can also go to her Facebook Community page Ribbons Of Hope For Nancy