Dani's Medical Bills, second Breast Cancer

In 2019, at age 32, Dani was diagnosed with aggressive triple-negative breast cancer. She completed 16 rounds of aggressive chemo, followed by a double mastectomy at the Mayo Clinic and then chemo pills for another 6 months. Surgery was successful and the surgeons were able to get clear margins. We were told that Dani was cancer-free. Because of the aggressive treatment plan, we were told we couldn't have any more children.

In 2021 a miracle happened. After years of trying to have more children and then later after the cancer treatment, the Mayo doctors told us we couldn't have children, Dani became pregnant. Lisa was born on May 20th, 2022, a very healthy and happy baby girl who is now 10 months old.

Luke had been putting off shoulder surgery since 2020 because of Dani's treatments. In January 2023 Luke finally got his right shoulder fixed at the VA. He is still recovering.

During the pregnancy in 2022, Dani began experiencing a small dry patch of skin on her breast. This dry patch would come and go every couple of weeks. After several months, Dani reached out to her local oncologist to seek advice. Her local oncologist said it did not sound concerning and suggested trying moisturizer. When the moisturizer didn’t work, Dani went to the oncologist who again said it doesn’t look concerning and that it “didn’t look like it needed to be biopsied.” At that point, her oncologist referred her to a dermatologist to find an ointment to hopefully help. After trying the ointment for 6 weeks, the dermatologist decided to do a biopsy to make sure they weren’t missing anything. Unfortunately, the biopsy came back as cancer.

We decided to go back down to the Mayo Clinic for a 2nd opinion and upon further scans, they found that there is a mass embedded into Dani’s chest wall. This was heartbreaking news. The Mayo doctors hadn’t seen this happen before and weren’t sure how to proceed at first. After meeting to discuss Dani’s case, her Mayo doctors decided on a treatment plan that includes 12 weekly rounds of chemo infusions, followed by specialized radiation for 5 weeks at the Mayo to avoid damage to her heart as much as possible, and lastly a very aggressive surgery to remove a section of her chest wall, including the pectoral muscle and 4-inch sections from two ribs. The reconstruction will be an extremely difficult and long process.

We want to be 100% transparent on what the money is used for, so here is what the money will go to. The Mayo is 179 miles away from our home which creates the majority of expenses. Dani will also be using Cold Cap Therapy this time around to try to keep her hair, insurance does not cover any costs related to this. Dani's parents have picked up the role of primary childcare when we need it of Logan (8) and Lisa (10 months) thus we shouldn't have costs associated with extra childcare.

Dani's Known Medical Expenses Total: $17,090

Cold Cap Therapy, Insurance will not cover $2,500

5 Week hotel stay in Rochester for Radiation $4,550

Gas for Mayo trips (15 trips, 358 miles each) $1,500

Hotel stay for surgery (7 days) $840

Meals when traveling or at hotels $1,000

Initial testing and doctors visits at the mayo $700

Blue Cross Blue Shield Copay catastrophic cap $6,000