Helping Our Ray of Sunshine

Hello!!

Anyone who knows Christine Harper knows how special she is. She is often described as a ray of sunshine in people's lives. She would do anything for absolutely anyone and her greatest joys in life come from helping others. Now it is time that we get to help her!

For those who don't know, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2018. She had the most incredible attitude about it from the very beginning. She was determined to not let life knock her down or steal her joy. All throughout her treatment (six rounds of chemo, 25+ rounds of radiation, and a double mastectomy)she never stopped having a great attitude. I think those around her took some of it worse than she did!! She was on maintenance drugs for quite a bit of time after finishing the chemo, radiation, and surgery and had several follow up appointments after her completion of treatment. Watching her go through that battle so courageously inspired everyone around her. She was deemed cancer free in early 2019! 

Fast forward to a few months ago when she was on the phone in the car and all of a sudden lost the ability to speak. She was taken to the hospital where she was told that there was a tumor in her brain. She just simply said "I fought cancer once and I will do it again". She was immediately scheduled back with her oncologist at the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Newnan (where she lives) to come up with a plan. The doctors thought it could be a completely unrelated cancer to her previous breast cancer and that surgery and 3 rounds of radiation could knock it out. She had her surgery and waited for the results from the tumor that was removed. Unfortunately, she received news that it is metastatic breast cancer (aka the cancer cells broke off from her breast cancer and traveled to her brain where it metastasized into a tumor). Metastatic breast cancer is not curable but that does not mean she will not be fighting and doing whatever she has to in order to keep the cancer at bay as much as possible!! Unfortunately this means increased medical expenses. Her oncologist feels it is best that she do 3 rounds of chemo to "cleanse" her blood. After 3 rounds she will have scans and be reassessed for where she is at. She is finishing up her 3 rounds of radiation and will start chemo on Wednesday September 30th. 

Besides being an amazing mother and grandmother (aka BaBa), she works at ClearWater Academy. If anyone were to ask her what brings her the most incredible joy, it is her job. She never stops talking about the most incredible kids, parents, and co-workers that she is blessed with every day. Going into work is her therapy. Because of the effects of chemo she has made the difficult decision to go on short term disability to ensure her body is resting and getting what it needs to be in the best shape to fight. This is where the generosity of everyone around her comes in. Anyone who knows Christine knows just how stubborn she is, so we all know she would never ask for help herself. Sometimes your friends, family, and community just have to make the call to step in! 

She is so incredibly lucky to have the community of people around her that she does! Any donation is so helpful and appreciated beyond words.