Help Shauna pay her breast cancer medical bills

Hi, My name is Andy and i am fundraising for Shauna.

 

Shauna is to proud to ask for help herself, so i am attempting it for her. Shauna has spent nearly 20 years as a nurse working in ICU/PCU and most recently moving to case management last year. She has spent her life taking care of others and i am now hoping the tables can be turned a little. Her story is below.

 

In March of 2021, at age 39, Shauna found a small lump in her left breast. She did the right thing and immediately got an appointment with her Dr.. A mammogram confirmed the mass and she was then directed to get a biopsy. The biopsy confirmed it was stage zero cancer, non invasive, which was the best worst news.

 

After finding an oncologist about an hour and half from where she lives in Tucson, she had an appointment about a month later. The lump had already more than doubled in size and  Shauna had to get two additional biopsies to validate the diagnosis,  meanwhile the mass was continuing to grow very rapidly. She was then referred to a breast cancer surgeon also in Tucson. After multiple appointments, surgery was scheduled and happened in July of 2021. The mass had grown so large by then that a mastectomy had to be performed. Shauna wanted a double mastectomy to reduce the chances of possible cancer on her other side but insurance wouldn't cover it, even though her biological mother was currently fighting breast cancer as well,  and to pay out of pocket would be to expensive.

 

An expander was placed to preparation for the reconstruction surgery that would follow. Shauna didnt want an implant and wanted all options to be available. She had previously had implants and had them removed and didnt want them again, DEIP Flap surgery was the reconstruction she wanted.

 

Shauna spent months working with the Mayo clinic to get an appointment, and just prior to her actually going to an appointment they notified her due to Covid they would not be doing any "elective" surgeries for the foreseeable future, this was in October of 2021.

 

The search for another Dr begain again, and she found a Dr in Phoenix that performed them. After multiple appointments with this Dr three hours from home she was then informed that their surgeon had moved and they couldn't do her surgery till they found a new one, this was in December of 2021.

 

Sometime during this time her expander began leaking and after meeting with her previous surgeon she was told they were moving to cosmetic only and she would have to find someone new to help her.

 

The Dr search began yet again, and she was able to find a new plastic surgeon in Tucson who had recently moved to the area. After meeting with this Dr it finally seemed that she would be able to move forward. He informed her that she would now require two surgeries, one to replace the expander and one for the reconstruction. The expander replacement happened in Feb of 2022 and she is now waiting for what she hopes in the last surgery in May.

 

This has been a very long road with lots of bumps. Shauna was able to pay her 15k out of pocket expenses in 2021, but since she is now in a new year due to unforeseen circumstances, she will be facing another year with a new $15,000 out of pocket payment.

 

Any assistance that could be provided to help Shauna is greatly appreciated.