The day after Christmas I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Not the best way to kick off 2025! lol  By the time some hoops were jumped through with Tricare & such, it was March before my treatment plan really started.  First up: surgery.  At this time, they did not believe I would even need chemo.  And a small course of radiation was planned for the summer.  I opted for a full/double mastectomy because of my young age & SCARY family history with breast cancer. I opted not to do any implants or reconstruction because I have auto immune & so many allergies & sensitivities.  I also already had involvement in at least 1 known lymph node on my left axilla, so they removed that plus sentinel nodes. Surgery was March 3, 2025.  I had a severe allergic reaction to the skin glue they used to close me up, but otherwise was recovering fairly well.  But when they got my pathology report back from those sentinel nodes they had removed, the cancer had already spread to several more lymph nodes.  I had a second surgery, an axillary lymph dissection, on March 27th.  No allergic reaction this time!  Turns out I have Stage 3 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.  I then had a small surgery on April 4th to place a chemo port because now chemo was definitely needed.  They used skin glue again even though it was listed as an allergy.  But I managed to not scratch my skin off & have been hanging in there.  Chemo infusions began April 17th.  I have done 2 rounds so far & chemo is definitely hell on Earth.  It drains you.  Calculated poisoning.  Sooo many side effects.  My hair has mostly fallen out, so we shaved my head. After 2 more rounds of this drug, I have 2 other courses of different drugs coming.  In addition to having lost my hair & breasts, 2 things that really made me feel feminine, I have more surgeries to look forward to because my cancer is Hormone Positive.  This means both Estrogen & Progesterone, the female hormones, are feeding my cancer.  So I need to be forced into menopause so I stop producing these hormones.  But I also have Endometriosis, which produces its own estrogen.  So I need to have a hysterectomy & oophorectomy to remove my uterus & only ovary.  I don't know that there is much left of me to feel like a woman when all of this is said & done.  But my wonderful husband & ornery son are doing the best they can with these crappy circumstances.  Poor Kal (a.k.a. Jake) is having to drive me everywhere, shift his entire career from where we thought it was heading, & deal with me crying easily over things.  He's been so patient, supportive, & strong, but I know it is taking a toll on him.  He needs support & encouragement, too.  Robert is in a kids with parents that have cancer support group.  But he seems to really be coping fairly well so far.  Anyways, sorry for my long history of this stuff.  We really need some help covering gas to & from my many, many appointments.  And we have been eating out more because we are on the go or too tired to cook when we get home.  I still have copays on many of the medications & then some of the things are only available OTC.  The muffler on my car shook loose on our way to one appointment, so that had to get fixed.  We just need some help covering all those little unexpected expenses.  Prayers are welcomed.  We are grateful for any & all support/encouragement you can provide.