Please Help Alena Beat Breast Cancer

Update: 10/30/23

Today I rang the bell celebrating my LAST Treatment!

20 weeks of Chemo, 6 weeks of Radiation, Surgery and countless tests, images & scans. It’s hard to articulate what the past 10 months have been like…I’m still processing it all. Treatment is different for everyone, but yes, it sucks, it’s hard, you have no choice and as much as it beats you down, I’d rather be the one going through it than anyone else. I know how blessed I am to be on this side of Cancer & pray for all those going through treatment they get their miracle too.

The brightest light during this year is all the people - family, friends, strangers and everyone in between - who selflessly & graciously gave to my family in any way they could. I will never be able to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me/us through prayers, meals, donations, visits, cards and so much more!! I am humbled and can only say Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!

There are some days that are better than others but everyday is a gift. Then there are some days we get to celebrate & today is a one of those special days for me & my family!! Today I am Cancer Free!!

Update: 9/7/23

I met with the radiation oncologist this week & was told that I will need to have 6 weeks of daily radiation treatments (30 total). Although I wasn’t expecting that many treatments, there is a good reason for it since my surgical pathology revealed two lymph nodes with minimal cancer left in them. So instead of having a second lymph node surgery, the radiology team feels that 6 weeks of radiation is the better option.

The real positive news is that due to my response to chemo my future prognosis looks really great (the doctor’s words), meaning my chances of a reoccurrence is very low. Nothing is 100% but all three of my doctors (& the tumor board) have expressed how excited they have been about my results & that they want me to be assured about my future, especially because I have a young kiddo.

I don’t have a start date for radiation yet, but it should be next week or the week after. They said my main side effects will be exhaustion & getting what will feel like a sun burn. I’m told by those who’ve gone through it that radiation easier than chemo. Praying that’s my experience too!

With your continued help, I hoping to continue with all of the naturopathic care that I have been doing throughout this process, including Vitamin C infusions and taking a steady regiment of pricey supplements.

I’m very grateful that by the time the holidays are here I’ll be done with treatment. Hopefully, by then, my hair will be long enough for me to go without a hat!

As always, thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support!

Love,

Alena (Jason & Spencer)

Update: 8/2/2023

Alena’s surgery went well this morning and she is home now resting. The surgery took about 2.5 hours and the surgeon was able to remove the remainder of the lump and some of the lymph nodes. She also had a hernia repaired in her abdomen as well. The surgeon saw a lot of scar tissue in the lump area which means there is hope most of the cancer is gone, but the doctor won’t be able to confirm it until pathology comes back next week. For now we are hunkered down on the home front in recovery mode. Happy to have her home. Joe and Irene are here with us helping with the kiddo and the dogs. Very grateful for their help. Thank you all for the continued prayers.

Update: 7/25/2023

I met with my surgeon last week to go over my surgery plan and review the MRI taken after my last chemo infusion. The MRI showed my tumor reacted well and is more than 50% smaller than it was prior to treatment. This is great news and means that I will have a lumpectomy vs. a full removal of my breast. Also, my lymph nodes are reading as “normal”, which means my doctors believe the cancer is no longer present in my left armpit. So it appears that the chemo worked exactly as they intended!

I am scheduled for surgery next Wednesday (August 2nd) at 8am. During the surgery, they will remove what's left of the tumor, as well as 1-3 lymph nodes and submit all of that for pathology. If my pathology results show cancer still in my lymph nodes, my doctors will determine if they need to do a second surgery to remove more lymph nodes, or if the remaining cancer can be eradicated through radiation treatments. Regarding my tumor, the MRI shows that I have good margins and my surgeon is confident that she will be able to fully remove what's left of the cancer. Regardless of my pathology results, I will begin daily radiation treatments about a month after my surgery date.

As always, words can never express my appreciation for your continued prayers. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives! Thank you again for all your help - meals, cards, gift cards, financial donations - we are humbled by everyone’s generosity. Thank you will never express how much it has meant to me and my family.

With love,

Alena (Jason and Spencer)

UPDATE: 6/26/2023

The final countdown to the last chemo treatment is well underway because Alena’s last infusion is THIS Thursday, June 29th. It’s been a long 20 weeks and to say that she is looking forward to finally being done with chemo infusions is an understatement!

The next step for Alena’s treatment is to undergo an MRI, and then meet with the surgeon to determine what type of surgery will be the best course for the removal of any remaining tumor or cancer cells. The surgeon meeting is set for mid-July and a surgery date will be scheduled sometime between mid-July and the first week of August. After surgery, Alena will have a few weeks to heal before she starts 3-4 weeks of daily radiation treatments.

Thanks to your help, Alena has been able to afford numerous daily supplements and weekly Vitamin C and Vitamin B infusions, along with other naturopathic care designed to build up her body. These treatments have been offsetting the chemotherapy side effects and will help her recover quicker once the chemo treatments are done, as well as assist with her recovery from surgery and radiation. Alena is now looking forward to tackling the next steps to be deemed cancer-free so she can fully heal and get back to living!

As always, we thank each one of you for your donations, phone calls, messages, drop-ins, meals, and above all, prayers.

With Love,

Jason, Alena and Spencer

UPDATE: 5/9/2023

First of all, we’d like to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone that has supported Alena’s treatment. We are humbled by the kindness and generosity that so many of you have extended to our family. From the donations of all sizes to the prayers and meals that you have delivered, your help has made a massive impact on our lives and, most importantly, Alena’s spirit. These first 12 weeks have been physically very challenging for Alena and some days have been just downright awful, but she’s getting through it. A few weeks back, Alena finished the first round of treatment, (Thank God!) as those first 8 weeks were particularly awful. The new chemo drug they have her on has been much easier on her so far and she has had a lot more energy to spend with the family, however, she can expect to get more and more fatigued as the treatments go on.

Now two weeks past the halfway mark, Alena has just 8 more treatments to go. Please continue to send prayers and any other help you are able as we do our best to get her to the end of chemotherapy and on to the next stage, which is surgery. Should everything go according to plan, Alena’s last chemo treatment will be on June 29th and a surgery date will be scheduled for about 4 weeks after that. Once the surgery is complete, daily radiation treatments will follow for an additional 3 weeks. We are anticipating all of this to be done by this October and we are praying for a clean bill of health by the end of the year.

Thank you all again from the bottom of our hearts. We value dearly each and every one of you.

With Love,

Jason, Alena, and Spencer

Original Post:

Hello Everyone,

As you may have heard, Alena was diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer on January 11th of this year. In addition to having a tumor in her left breast, the cancer has spread to several of the lymph nodes in her armpit area. A PET Scan and a Brain MRI have confirmed that the cancer has not spread beyond this area and we are extremely grateful for that.

Alena has a long healing journey ahead of her that involves 5 months of chemotherapy beginning on February 16th followed by surgery and radiation therapy. Her spirit is very strong and she is eager to get the process started. While undergoing treatment, we are going to do everything we can to help her get through it with the least amount of side effects possible. To supplement the chemo, Alena will be receiving healing massages, acupuncture treatments, and will be seeing a naturopath to help boost her immune system. The goal is to help Alena stay strong as well as manage the side effects so she can be a mother to Spencer with as little disruption as possible.

Many of you have asked how you can help with Alena’s recovery, and we have been humbled by the kindness and graciousness from all of you. In addition to your continued prayers, which have meant so much to Alena, we are asking for donations to help cover the mounting pile of medical bills we have already accrued, insurance deductibles, all non-insurance treatments, and the numerous expenses that we will accrue over the coming year.

We appreciate your continued prayers and are blessed by having so many wonderful people, near and far, in our lives.