Help Christina Sisson Battle Breast Cancer!
Donation protected
Christina Sisson is my partner here at Merch Money, and she has been through so much over the last several months. She was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and has been struggling undergoing chemo this year.
The breast cancer that Christina has is an aggressive type called Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) which makes up only 10-15% of breast cancers.
Here is her description of it:
It is “triple positive" meaning, estrogen positive, progesterone positive, and HER2 positive (which only occurs in about 15-20% of the time with this cancer. My Ki67 is at 27%. ILC is a bi-lateral and multi-focal cancer. Bi-lateral means that it often is found on both side of the body and multi-focal means it often "pops up" in various areas of the body at the same time. Additionally, this cancer forms more in thin lines like spider webs, as opposed to tumor clusters because a key feature of this cancer is the lack of E-cadherin which is a type of cell adhesion molecule. This is what makes this cancer "sneaky" and often difficult to locate.
Since this diagnosis, Christina has had the tumor and lymph nodes removed, but she is undergoing an intensive chemo treatment for 6 months and then after that an ongoing treatment until January 2022. She will also be undergoing radiation after her initial 6 months of intensive chemo.
Christina has also gone through physical therapy due to developing lymphedema in her right arm. This was due to the lymph node removal and the need to reduce the fluid build up and swelling in that arm to increase mobility.
Christina has had severe side effects to the chemo because of her medications for dysautonomia. Mast cell activation disease were building up in her body due to her liver being overworked by the chemo.
Christina also got an infection in her port which caused issues and had to be removed.
It has already been a very tough road for Christina and she still has a long way to go unfortunately. I wish that she did not have to go through this, but let’s all help her in any way that we can!
Christina has health insurance, but has had to pay a lot of out of pocket expenses as well. Her out of pocket expenses are $12,500. It would be so wonderful if we could all help her pay this so that she can focus on getting well without the burden of medical expenses.
Thank you so much for your generosity! Let’s all help Christina get well! Please continue to pray and to send her well wishes.
The breast cancer that Christina has is an aggressive type called Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) which makes up only 10-15% of breast cancers.
Here is her description of it:
It is “triple positive" meaning, estrogen positive, progesterone positive, and HER2 positive (which only occurs in about 15-20% of the time with this cancer. My Ki67 is at 27%. ILC is a bi-lateral and multi-focal cancer. Bi-lateral means that it often is found on both side of the body and multi-focal means it often "pops up" in various areas of the body at the same time. Additionally, this cancer forms more in thin lines like spider webs, as opposed to tumor clusters because a key feature of this cancer is the lack of E-cadherin which is a type of cell adhesion molecule. This is what makes this cancer "sneaky" and often difficult to locate.
Since this diagnosis, Christina has had the tumor and lymph nodes removed, but she is undergoing an intensive chemo treatment for 6 months and then after that an ongoing treatment until January 2022. She will also be undergoing radiation after her initial 6 months of intensive chemo.
Christina has also gone through physical therapy due to developing lymphedema in her right arm. This was due to the lymph node removal and the need to reduce the fluid build up and swelling in that arm to increase mobility.
Christina has had severe side effects to the chemo because of her medications for dysautonomia. Mast cell activation disease were building up in her body due to her liver being overworked by the chemo.
Christina also got an infection in her port which caused issues and had to be removed.
It has already been a very tough road for Christina and she still has a long way to go unfortunately. I wish that she did not have to go through this, but let’s all help her in any way that we can!
Christina has health insurance, but has had to pay a lot of out of pocket expenses as well. Her out of pocket expenses are $12,500. It would be so wonderful if we could all help her pay this so that she can focus on getting well without the burden of medical expenses.
Thank you so much for your generosity! Let’s all help Christina get well! Please continue to pray and to send her well wishes.
Organizer and beneficiary
Helen Kinson
Organizer
Woodbridge, VA
Christina Sisson
Beneficiary