Help Maya Beat Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Join me in helping support Maya Tobi through treatment for Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

My name is Joanna Lubkin, and I've known Maya since she was 8 years old. She's facing an intense diagnosis with grace and humor, with the love and encouragement of family and friends. Let's make sure that the huge financial burden of treatment, lost wages, and other expenses isn't weighing her down as she gets treatment.

Here's Maya's story in her own words:

My name is Maya Tobi, I'm 34 years old, and I have Stage 4 Metastatic Inflammatory Breast Cancer. (“Hi Maya!” Feels kind of like I’m writing an intro for some sort of Anonymous support group.) I live in Arlington, MA with my partner of 10+ years, Sheridan, and our adorable and neurotic rescue cat, Mabel.

I was laid off from my job of nearly 2 years on November 7 and was officially diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) on December 1. I had just had a perfectly normal Thanksgiving with my wonderful family and not a thought in my mind of cancer—until November 25, when I went to urgent care due to inflammation and skin changes in my right breast. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of bad news and more daily and weekly appointments than I’ve had in the last decade combined.

Inflammatory Breast Cancer, unfortunately, is not just any breast cancer. It is particularly aggressive, particularly rare (only 1-5% of all breast cancer cases and fewer than 20,000 cases in the US per year), and particularly difficult to treat. Fortunately, I live close to one of only 3 medical centers in the entire country that has a program specialized to IBC, Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), where I am receiving my care. I cannot put into words how grateful I am that life allowed us to land here at this particular point in time.

While I was initially diagnosed as Stage 3C on December 1, I was officially restaged to Stage 4 on January 3rd after new imaging found that the cancer had spread extensively throughout my bones. I’m not going to sugar coat it—the chances this won’t turn out great are pretty high. But I am trying to get through it as best I can, and I am trying to fight as hard as I can for the sake of my loved ones (especially Mabel, obviously).

Because of the timing of my diagnosis and losing my job, I also unfortunately had to elect COBRA insurance in order to ensure that I could get medical care. COBRA is not inexpensive, and neither is cancer. Being diagnosed in December also meant that my copays and deductibles got to max out and then immediately reset in January—fantastic timing for the insurance company! Not so great for me, though.

Right now, I am undergoing a 12-week chemotherapy regimen, and beyond that is fairly unknown and will depend on the results of imaging and testing after this initial chemo course is completed. My partner and I are doing our best to weather this storm, but it’s a bleak and violent one. We could use all the support and help we can get.

Your donations will help to cover lost wages, and will help me pay for:

If you’ve ever met me, you know that I have a dark sense of humor and a fierce love of life. I want to live this one I’ve been graced with. I also have a deep love of all things fiber arts, from dyeing wool to spinning it into yarn to knitting with it.

My love of fiber arts has also helped me maintain a sense of normalcy through this time, so I’d also like to promise that for every donation made to my treatment and life expenses, I will knit and donate a hat to be given to children with cancer who are being treated at DFCI. I have already been in contact with their philanthropic branch and have been knitting like there’s no tomorrow! (Is there?) If you donate to help me through this immense challenge, I will knit a unique hat in your honor, include a note with your name on it in the bag I donate it in, and I will send you a photo of it before I send it off to DFCI. That’s my promise, and how I will do my best to help others while I go through this too.

Help me donate lots of hats, please!

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