Dana Liss-Hakimi's Medical Fund

My name is Dana Hakimi.  I am 49 years young.  I have been happily married to my husband for 14 years and also have a 12 year old son, both who have been be amazing through my breast cancer ordeal .  My family is my world!   I am currently working as an Early Childhood Teacher with 3 and 4 year old children and I love what I do!  This past year and a half , I have been fighting a breast cancer diagnosis that I received  on the week of Thanksgiving in 2016 after a routine mammogram.  FYI, I am faithful about get my screening done every year.   When I received my diagnosis, I didn't question "WHY ME", but rather "WHY NOT ME" since 1 in 8 women will get this diagnosis.  I told my self that is just a bump in the road and with a good attitude, family /friends support, and a great team of doctors that I could definitely beat this.  I didn't look it at as having cancer, but rather as having something in me that didn't belong there and needed to be removed.  My team of doctor's in Houston, assured me that I could beat this, so I stayed optimistic and positive.   In June 2017, I had a rather extensive and invasive surgery- 12 hours total.  I had a bilateral mastectomy by choice  and  also elected to have a hysterectomy since my cancer was estrogen sensitive and at the same time I had reconstruction  using my own fat with a follow-up procedure needed 6months after radiation.  The surgery hopefully was successful, but I would require more treatment. I just finished my 12 rounds of chemo and 6 weeks of radiation.  I will be having my first follow-up with my oncologist soon and likely a scan to see if the treatment was successful in killing any lingering cancer cells.   So during all this, I tried never to miss a day of work except if I was required to do an early morning diagnostic test.  Keeping busy and doing what I love which is teaching children, gave me a purpose to get up every morning. Working with my kids, the parents and my very supportive co-workers was the best distraction for me and helped me through this process.   So one would think that CANCER is the worst of it, but with fighting it comes other obstacles.   I am very fortunate to have insurance no matter how good or bad it might be.   My husband never discussed with me about the bills- he only wanted me to focus on my recovery and treatment.  My husband, son, and family are my rock.  They put me first and made sure I had everything I needed to get through this past year.  I am typically a giver and not a receiver- so having to rely on other people was very difficult for me - it is very humbling to say the least.  I tried hard to have all my ducks in a row in hopes of making this process go smother for my family and not to have to burden them or anyone else.   Though just the other day, I happened to stumble across a bill from Methodist Hospital/ Cancer Center and was rather surprised of the balance even after the insurance had paid.  We have met the deductible several times needless to say with an insurance change mid-way through this process.  I have always been very self-sufficient and like I said I am known to be a giver not a taker.  So writing this and asking others to help me and my family does not come easy for me at all. I was truly not aware how much this process would take a toll on us all physically, emotionally and financially. It all happened so fast there really wasn't much time to prepare.  We have been able to set up a payment plan and will continue to pay on it until the debt is paid off.  I am sure my situation is no different than anyone else who has had to deal with an unexpected illness, a natural disaster or any other unfortunate situation in their life.   I am hopefully healthy now and should know more soon.  I  feel so fortunate to have loving friends and family, and a job I truly enjoy.  I am very well aware of how truly blessed I am.  My wish now is to take off some of the burden off my husband - I would truly like to be able to do that- he doesn't know that I am doing this and probably would not be thrilled, but I just want to take off some of the pressure off of him.   In return, I plan to pay it forward some day soon and continue to educate people about early detention and prevention.  I plan on volunteering at the very Cancer Center that took such good care of me her in Houston.  I want  to inspire others, share my story, and provide comfort to those that need it.  I appreciate you reading my story.
Thank you !  I sincerely appreciate this more than anyone will ever really know and understand!

Dana Hakimi