Support Kerri's Fight Against Cancer

Most of you don't know this, but my sister Kerri was diagnosed with a very rare form of breast cancer. My family and I chose not to share that on social media, not until now.

I honestly would never, ever have expected to find myself starting a GoFundme page for my sister and best friend, Kerri. This is the most difficult and unexpected thing I thought I'd ever have to do in my lifetime.

That having been said, my family and I are desperate for help at this point. We are eliminating all pride at this time as difficult as it may be. We have been helping her as much as we can, but we have exhausted all resources as well.

She doesn't know I have set this up for her because I know she would not allow me to. In fact, when she first found out she was diagnosed with cancer, someone mentioned setting up a Gofundme for her and she said "absolutely not, I will not take handouts" -- that's my sister though! 

Last year, around this time, she found out she was diagnosed with a very rare form of Breast Cancer.

(Triple Negative Breast Cancer)

Triple Negative Breast Cancer is a very aggressive and invasive cancer that grows and spreads faster than any other breast cancer. It is more likely than any other cancer to spread into other areas of the body such as the brain, lungs, lymph nodes, bones, bloodstream,and other parts of the body. It can come back at any time, anywhere in her body.

Our family was truly both in shock, and extremely sad and scared---but not Kerri. She was like "I'm gonna be ok, I got this! I have Cancer, Cancer doesn't have me!"- She truly had the best and most sincere positive attitude. Quite honestly, more positive than we'd ever imagine being in her shoes.

Not long after, she had surgery to remove the Cancer. A port was put into her neck so they could begin the chemo treatments.

She was ready for those treatments!! She would talk about getting through them and getting back to her life and going back to work and back to enjoying life and her pride and joy which is family. What she wasn't prepared for was how badly the Chemo would affect her health.

In just a few short months, she began the Chemo treatments. Because of the type of Cancer she had, the treatment she received was stronger than most any other Chemo treatments.

After Chemo, both of her lower lungs collapsed, so she had to wait to have the port removed. She needed the port removed in order to start radiation until her lungs were healed. After a while of waiting, her lungs finally healed, they then removed her port and began radiation. While on radiation, she broke a rib because her bones were so weak from the meds. In addition, she has developed neuropathy in one of her hands and is barely able to use it. Her other hand has limited use as well.

She is also currently awaiting results for nodules found on her thyroid, which could potentially be the Cancer returning in that area.

Only two days ago, she again was in the hospital. This time was because she was in so much pain and couldn't breathe. Both her heart rate and blood pressure were dangerously high. She was told she has Tachycardia. The Dr. said the pain is from radiation fibrosis, which is the thickening of tissue in her chest caused by the radiation in her area of surgery. It is both painful and debilitating.

These are just a few health issues she has been dealing with,and now she has to put off her PT on her hands because she is too weak and the pain is too great to go to her appointments.

It has just been one thing after another, and all she wants is to heal and get back to her life and family and normal living.

Whenever my family and I speak to her on the phone or visit her, she is always in good spirits; she is both laughing and cracking jokes. If you know Kerri, you know that's how she is. You would never know she had Cancer. 

Kerri has never led on if she was ever going through anything at any time, no matter what it was. Believe me, she has been through a lot in her life. She has always kept things to herself and dealt with it on her own. 

My sister and her husband have a daughter who is away at college finishing her PhD, and two sons who live at home with them. She also has a stepdaughter, son-in-law and grandson whom she adores.

Her husband Tommy was doing double shifts at work to make ends meet since Kerri has been out of work and disability has run out a while ago. Tommy recently injured himself on the job and has not been able to do double shifts anymore. They now are financially struggling to make ends meet. He has also had to take a lot of unpaid time off to be with her anytime she has had to go for Chemo/radiation treatments, hospital trips, Dr appts, etc.. With his own injury, he has been out of work for that as well.

Your donations will help my sister and her family pay for any out of pocket medical bills not covered by insurance, medical insurance through her job, utility bills, food, as well as gas to get her to and from daily Dr. appts, physical therapy, and frequent trips to the hospital.

As of right now, most of her medical bills are covered under her own job insurance because her husband's insurance does not cover any cancer medical treatment. The problem is that we aren't sure how much longer she'll be able to keep that insurance because she's already been out of work for more than a year. At that point things will get worse with no medical insurance at all.

My hope is that we can get her and her family caught up on what they have fallen behind with financially, so they can prepare for any future health/medical/financial burdens.

If you can't make a donation, I just ask that you please keep Kerri in your prayers.

Also, even though I know she is scared to death right now with everything she is going through, if you happen to talk to her, I ask that you not show pity for her. She does not want people to feel bad for her.

What would make her happy is to just hear a friendly voice and have a normal, happy conversation.

I will post updates on Kerri as I get them in.

Thank you and God Bless you all!! ❤️

I understand some of you may not feel comfortable donating on the gofundme page, however if you would like to donate you can send your donation via mail, Zelle or Venmo. You can look me up on fb

(Christine McHugh) and send me a private message and I can provide details.