Francesca needs help beating breast cancer!

Hello lovely people,

My name is Francesca and I am a photography teacher and general darkroom mom to many students at Art Center in Pasadena, CA. I was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer 2 years ago just 6 months after my father died. I lost my mother to non-Hodgkins lymphoma when I was 17 and because of that experience, I have been petrified to do traditional chemotherapy. So I chose the route of holistic healing, fasting, and other non-toxic methods. While I have done a lot to improve my health immensely and (I think) keep this from spreading, the time has come to do traditional therapy.

I'd like to do everything I can to try and feel as normal as possible during this difficult time, and keeping my hair while going through chemotherapy is important to continuing my positive outlook and morale. Preserving my eggs before chemo was extremely costly, so now I need help paying for the Dignicap. This is a device that through extreme cold exposure to the scalp, will help reduce the chemotherapy drugs that will reach my scalp, thus reducing hair loss. The start-up cost for a cold cap is $700 then $450 for each of the 6 sessions, starting on July 26th, 2023.

UPDATE 7/21/23: I have reached my goal of $4000 for the cold cap!!! I am so grateful for all the support I've gotten from so many people, truly, I feel very loved.

I'm going to edit this goal and continue fundraising to help with other costs related to my treatment. Fertility preservation was very expensive and if I can get that covered as well, it would really ease the financial burden it has put on me (and my credit cards). I am not sure what else may come up and having this amazing group of people on my side has given me the confidence to let myself be cared for. It is sometimes the hardest thing to ask for help, and I'm so glad that I finally did.

I do my best every day to keep a smile on my face and be there for my students and the loved ones in my life and this would enable me to continue smiling even in my darkest moments.

Thank you for your time and energy and please consider donating. I appreciate you all deeply.