Help Heather and Her Kids Through Cancer Treatment

Hi I’m Heather. I was recently diagnosed with stage 3c colorectal cancer, just three years younger than my mom when she passed away from cancer. I watched my mother as she slowly deteriorated and finally found peace when she passed away when I was 16. Now here I am with two amazing children ages 4 & 6. I always feared that I would follow the family traits but figured I would take after my father who has also passed away, I never imagined it would have advanced cancer in my 30s.

I began to notice symptoms that couldn’t be ignored around 3 years ago. At the time

I was married in a very high stress environment. The doctors brushed off the fatigue to be related to the stress and the bleeding to be possible endometriosis. Since then, I filed for divorce which has been quite a challenge and took priority over my health. I had an emergency surgery due to gallstones and right after surgery, our home had to be sold and I had to pack up and move our entire household on my own resulting in a delay of healing. A few months later, I started experiencing more frequent bleeding that continued to increase so I started the process of getting testing done and finally after a colonoscopy, the doctor told me they found a large lesion and estimate that I have had it for about 7 years due to its size.

Since diagnosis, I have faced so many challenges receiving the care I need to fight this. Our medical system for underserved communities has some major problems. The tumor was discovered in May and in July, I have still yet to receive any treatments or care to navigate the daily symptoms. I am constantly bleeding, requiring constant access to the restroom. This bleeding is accompanied by pain and fatigue. In addition to this, the cancer has progressed to the point that I am losing weight and experiencing muscle loss which has made daily tasks challenging. I am hoping to get into an advanced treatment called proton therapy which is said to provide higher doses of radiation to the tumor while reducing the side effects. With traditional radiation at my age, there is a high risk of infertility, menopause and cancer development in the reproductive system so this newer treatment would help to lessen the effects of radiation to the surrounding organs. Medi-Cal likely will not pay for this treatment but I believe it can increase my chances of survival and would like to find a way to make it happen.I am unable to work due to these symptoms which is posing to be a challenge as a single mom with no financial support from the father.

My treatment will be “the most intense treatment possible.” Starting with a combination of radiation and chemo for 6 weeks 5 days a week followed by a short break and then chemo for 6 months. The chemo will be every other week for 6 hours in office and a pump that is sent home for 48 hours. After these treatments, they will scan again to see if I am a candidate for

surgery but at this time, it is inoperable. The scans show it is effecting the sigmoid rectal area, had invaded the nearby vessels, tissues, lympnodes, bladder, stomach and large intestines.

I anticipate needing to pay for everything from rent to care to help with daily tasks for myself and helping with my children.