Help Natalia Overcome Cancer and Financial Strain

Hey!

My name is Natalia, I’m 31 and I have Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I had just gotten accepted into nursing school two weeks prior to an ER visit that would change my life. In November of 2023, I went to the emergency room because of severe chest pain in addition to my watch alerting me to a high heart rate and AFIB. That visit revealed that I had a 4 inch mass growing around my heart. I was admitted soon after and from there began the months of different tests and a roller coaster of emotions that would later lead to my cancer diagnosis in February of this year. After discovering I have cancer, my primary care doctor revealed that the mass was found 10 years ago during an emergency room visit. I have struggled with health issues for years prior to getting my diagnosis. Albeit, the tumor was smaller but I had no knowledge of it. Years of frustration and medical gaslighting could have been avoided but I am still thankful to have caught it prior to spreading further.

My PET scan revealed that I had three lymph nodes in my mediastinum (in addition to the large mass around my heart) that were cancerous. An endobronchial biopsy later confirmed it as classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I started my ABVD treatment in March and it has not been easy on my body. I now have neuropathy in my bladder which happens to about 20% of chemo patients. I’m usually down until my next chemo session due to fatigue and a high heart rate. Doxorubicin is as brutal as they say.

In addition to this, my insurance has denied coverage for the medication to put me into early menopause. This was done to protect my ovaries from chemo as I do not have children yet. The medication used was deemed off-label. I am unable to work during treatment due to working in a high risk environment (emergency room), and I am struggling financially to stay afloat with just my disability pay. My boyfriend has used FMLA (unpaid leave) to be my caretaker during my treatment. We are trying to survive based off of my disability income alone but it’s become difficult.

If you are able to donate and/share, it would be greatly appreciated and help to alleviate the financial stress my cancer diagnosis has caused.

Thank you for reading, sharing, donating. ❤️