Help Holly Fight Breast Cancer
My sister Holly has stage IV breast cancer and will soon be unable to work. To keep the health insurance that pays for her expensive treatments, she needs to find a way to pay the $600 a month premium. That’s why Holly needs our help.
Breast Cancer: A Dreaded Diagnosis
In May of 2012, Holly Minard, was diagnosed with an invasive form of breast cancer: infiltrating ductal carcinoma with lymph node involvement. After three months of chemotherapy, bilateral mastectomy, three more months of chemotherapy and 35 radiation treatments, she got good news. Her latest PET scan showed no evidence of disease. Holly was exhausted from months of treatment, but excited to be cancer free!
The Cancer Returns
Sadly, Holly's excitement was short lived. By March of 2014, the cancer had returned and had spread to her thyroid, liver and several more lymph nodes. Her new diagnosis was Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Targeted therapy was started and, much to Holly’s relief, her tumor markers began to decrease, which meant the treatment was working. By April of 2015, however, the cancer started growing again. This time it spread to her bones, bone marrow and spine. Her treatment regimen was changed and then changed again, and more drugs were added to combat the increasing tumor activity throughout her body.
With Stage IV Breast Cancer, Treatment is Forever
There is no cure for stage IV breast cancer, so Holly will be in treatment for the rest of her life.
Since being diagnosed with breast cancer, she has continued working in order to pay her household bills and medical expenses, and to keep her valuable health insurance. Although she never complains, it hasn’t been easy. It's a 135 mile roundtrip to the cancer treatment center and the drugs she takes have many side effects, including near-debilitating fatigue. Yet she continues to get up each morning and go into the office because, for now, she has no other choice.
Holly’s husband, Tyne, is retired and has been her constant companion and pillar of support since her initial diagnosis in 2012. But he can no longer work due to his own health issues. Although her job provides good health insurance, when she is eventually unable to work, she won't be able to afford the $600 per month cost to keep that insurance. 
As of August 2016, Holly’s tumor markers are on the rise again. She’s running out of treatment options and will likely have to start chemotherapy again. The side effects of chemotherapy will make it impossible for Holly to continue working, yet she needs her health insurance to pay for the expensive treatments that are keeping her alive. It's a cruel Catch-22.
Let's Give Holly One Less Thing to Worry About
When you have stage IV breast cancer, you shouldn't have to worry about how to pay for your health insurance.
My hope is to raise enough money for Holly to pay for two years of health insurance premiums so she can stop working now and put all her energy toward fighting the cancer that threatens her life. We would be so grateful for your help.