Medical bills and everyday expenses

Tamara aka Tammi Arthur has been a dispatcher for 22 years. In that time, she has worked to protect the citizens and emergency responders in Isle of Wight, Surry and Suffolk. Tammi has dedicated her whole life to serving others not only in 911 dispatch but also as a volunteer at Isle of Wight Volunteer Rescue Squad.

She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. She had a mastectomy removing one breast, and received chemotherapy to treat cancer. She often traveled to Pennsylvania to get expert care to save her life. In addition to the cancer treatments, she underwent a total hysterectomy as a part of the treatment for breast cancer. Throughout this all, she continued to work between treatments. Sometimes she was sick just from efforts to beat cancer, yet she never complained and continued to serve others. Tammi ultimately beat cancer and was in remission. However, in September 2022, she started to get sick with what she thought was a respiratory infection. Tammi worked only seven days in September and eventually ended up being rushed to Riverside via ambulance near the end of September. There she was told she had fluid around the heart and would have to undergo an operation to remove the fluid. She was left on a ventilator following surgery for a day. She was in the hospital for over a week and then released home. Soon after being discharged, she was taken back to Riverside for difficulty breathing and was found to have blood clots in both lungs due to her previous hospital admission. Tammi was sent home again and thought she was on the road to recovery, but that road took a detour back to the hospital, where they found more fluid, this time around the lungs and heart. They drained the liquid off the lungs and sent the fluid off for pathology. The news that returned was devastating; the fluid showed breast cancer cells!

Tammi has been hospitalized at VCU for 2 weeks. As previously mentioned, she has not worked since September. Her husband's missed work due to her illness makes their income limited. She has shared that she is now two months behind on her mortgage and other bills. The last thing she needs to worry about is whether she will lose her home, her power will be cut off or where her next meal will come from.

I am asking for any donation to help ease the burden during this difficult time. Tammi has always jumped in to help others, and it’s our turn to help her.