Mother and Son Face Cancer Battle Together

Families cherish their time together and sharing experiences - but one experience Sarah Fjeld (Elstad) and her 20-year-old son, Noah, never imagined that they would share was battling cancer together. Sarah’s husband, Josh and their 15-year-old daughter, Mackayla, are part of this struggle as they try to manage their feelings of sadness, anger, and disbelief that their family is fighting for their lives.

Our family pondered “How could we possibly help Sarah and Noah”? The answer came to us in the form of reaching out to you, family and friends, with this GoFundMe appeal.

Sarah was first diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2017. Aggressive treatments and 35 brutal rounds of radiation followed. She was declared cancer free until 2021 when she contracted COVID. During her long recovery from COVID, a CT scan revealed that her cancer had spread throughout her body and was now terminal. Sarah continues to fight every day with the treatments that are available to her.

Two months ago, Noah developed what appeared to be persistent cold symptoms. After tests and a biopsy, he was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Noah has a long road ahead of him as he fights this rare cancer. A PET scan is scheduled to determine if cancer has spread to other parts of his body. He will then receive chemotherapy for three months, followed by a combination of grueling proton radiation and chemotherapy, at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Although effective, this radiation is extremely painful. Noah will not be able to eat or drink and will need to have a feeding tube inserted during this phase.

Noah recently shared with his Grandparents that he fears that his Mom and Dad will lose their house because of him, because of his cancer.

Although the family thought they were prepared for circumstances such as these with medical insurance, the co-pays and expenses involved with traveling to Rochester for treatments are staggering. When two family members are facing such life-threatening illnesses, the impacts and costs to the family are devastating.

Sarah continues to work her job from home when her strength allows. Her husband Josh is working as much overtime as he can, while supporting his wife and two children. This has taken a toll on his physical and mental health. He will now need to take days off from work (not to mention travel expenses) in order to take Noah to Mayo Clinic. They have survived Sarah’s cancer treatments so far, but their debt just keeps increasing and creditors are becoming more insistent on payments.

Can You Help this Family?

It is hard to express how much your contribution would mean to Sarah, Josh, Noah and Mackayla. Any donation you can make will reduce the crushing financial burden they face and will allow them to focus on the time they have together while obtaining the best treatments needed for both mother and son. If you are not able to give financially, please share the GoFundMe page with your friends and family and please keep them in your prayers.

If you have questions, or ideas on how to support this family, please reach out. We will do our best to respond.

A heartfelt thank you from the Fjeld/Elstad family!

If you would like to know more about Sarah and Noah’s story…

Sarah first noticed some unusual swelling in her breast in 2017. A mammogram was performed and a large mass and 4 enlarged lymph nodes were found. After additional tests and a biopsy, Sarah received the news that she had stage 3 breast cancer. What followed was aggressive chemotherapy, multiple surgeries and radiation. The initial surgeries were done to remove the left breast followed by surgery to remove additional tissue and hospitalization due to infection. Next were 35 brutal rounds of radiation. Additional surgeries were done to remove the right breast and then more hospitalizations to deal with infections. Sarah endured all of the treatments required to survive this cancer, but cancer does not end with the last treatment. Sarah continued with follow-up appointments praying cancer would not return.

In March of 2021, Sarah developed Covid. She could not shake the cough and developed shortness of breath due to fluid around her lungs. The fluid was drained, tested for cancer and came back with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. A CT scan found cancer had spread to the pleura lining, lungs, spine, ribs, and liver. It was hard for Sarah to hear about the initial diagnosis, but now to hear that her cancer was terminal and there was no cure, was devastating.

Sarah is a fighter, so more chemotherapy, three weeks on, one week off. More medication for additional therapy, bone strengthening infusions, blood counts and continuing the process until it doesn’t work anymore.

Noah first developed cold symptoms that wouldn’t go away. He had a relenting stuffy nose, to the point that he was not able to breathe through his nose. He was treated several times with antibiotics and steroids, but the treatments never resolved the issue.

Just after Thanksgiving of 2022, a lump became visible on Noah’s neck. He was referred to an ENT who ordered a series of tests. Surgery was scheduled to collect samples from the mass in his nasal cavity and the oversized lymph node in his neck. The results came back, nasopharyngeal carcinoma.