Single Mom Fights Breast Cancer
Donation protected
Hello there. My name is Wendy R and I'd like to introduce you to one of the bravest, kindest and loving souls that I've ever had the pleasure to know. Her name is Wendy Kouwenberg and I went to high school with her.
Wendy and her children have not had an easy life. In 2009, with 3 young kids in tow, Wendy finally had had enough and left her husband of 23 years with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a few household items. She did not take or get a dime from him, in order to keep her children with her. She gets child support from her ex randomly at best.
She has worked so hard to make sure that her kids, now older, are well taken care of and denying herself many things so that her kids get all that they need and then some. She even denied what was happening to her body so to keep working.
In September 2016, she noticed a mass in her left breast. She continued working. In February of this year she finally with a requistion for a mammogram, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer (they found 3 large tumors that had calcified into a large mass). Since May, has been in TCH chemotherapy protocol which on good days took over 4 hours. Her platelet and hemoglobin counts dropped considerably. Her immune is very low. Kissing and hugging her children became a curse. Her breast cancer has become a curse on them also. Due to her high blood pressure and low platelets, chemo at times was delayed for hours on end.
As you can imagine, she is unable to work at this point and is on a sick leave, which unfortunately ended September 9th 2017. The government will NOT switch her sick leave over to regular employment insurance benefits even though she has 21 weeks of regular UNemployment left so the regular income has run out. The company she worked for has no paid leave or insurance benefits of any kind. No medication coverage either. With the inability to work, trips back and forth to the hospital which for some treatments or tests, she cannot drive herself to and can't afford a cab or pay for parking most days... her expenses are going to go through the roof and she has no means to pay them. Wendy helps seniors, the sick and the disabled for a living. She cleans, cooks, drives them to appointments or to the bank (which may include lifting walkers or wheelchairs into and out of her vehicle or aiding her clients up and down) whatever is needed. Her immune system so weakened by the treatments, she would be exposing herself to all sorts of disease and or infection, as well as the fact, that she is physically and emotionally tired all the time. She is currently awaiting her mastectomy date scheduled for sometime in October and will be unemployed at least the next 6 months. After surgery, she will continue with treatments of Herceptin for a year and hormone treatments for the next 5 years. It is still unknown if she will need 4-5 weeks of radiotherapy after surgery. Wendy has every intention of returning back to work and wishes she was working instead of all this but at this time is unable. And this is heartbreaking for her.,.
Please....open your hearts and your wallets for this brave, single mom so that she can continue to support her kids while getting the much needed hospital treatments and rest that she needs in order to fight this horrible disease. Apart from this disease, Wendy also suffers from high blood pressure, depression and anxiety and as you can imagine, fighting cancer has made these 3 conditions even worse.
If you do one good deed today, make it this one. Every little bit helps and would be greatly appreciated. Let's show this brave mom that she is NOT alone in her fight and that there are kind people out there willing to help someone that they haven't even met.
Thank you for reading this far and God bless. Will keep you up with her progress! xoxoxo
Wendy and her children have not had an easy life. In 2009, with 3 young kids in tow, Wendy finally had had enough and left her husband of 23 years with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a few household items. She did not take or get a dime from him, in order to keep her children with her. She gets child support from her ex randomly at best.
She has worked so hard to make sure that her kids, now older, are well taken care of and denying herself many things so that her kids get all that they need and then some. She even denied what was happening to her body so to keep working.
In September 2016, she noticed a mass in her left breast. She continued working. In February of this year she finally with a requistion for a mammogram, she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer (they found 3 large tumors that had calcified into a large mass). Since May, has been in TCH chemotherapy protocol which on good days took over 4 hours. Her platelet and hemoglobin counts dropped considerably. Her immune is very low. Kissing and hugging her children became a curse. Her breast cancer has become a curse on them also. Due to her high blood pressure and low platelets, chemo at times was delayed for hours on end.
As you can imagine, she is unable to work at this point and is on a sick leave, which unfortunately ended September 9th 2017. The government will NOT switch her sick leave over to regular employment insurance benefits even though she has 21 weeks of regular UNemployment left so the regular income has run out. The company she worked for has no paid leave or insurance benefits of any kind. No medication coverage either. With the inability to work, trips back and forth to the hospital which for some treatments or tests, she cannot drive herself to and can't afford a cab or pay for parking most days... her expenses are going to go through the roof and she has no means to pay them. Wendy helps seniors, the sick and the disabled for a living. She cleans, cooks, drives them to appointments or to the bank (which may include lifting walkers or wheelchairs into and out of her vehicle or aiding her clients up and down) whatever is needed. Her immune system so weakened by the treatments, she would be exposing herself to all sorts of disease and or infection, as well as the fact, that she is physically and emotionally tired all the time. She is currently awaiting her mastectomy date scheduled for sometime in October and will be unemployed at least the next 6 months. After surgery, she will continue with treatments of Herceptin for a year and hormone treatments for the next 5 years. It is still unknown if she will need 4-5 weeks of radiotherapy after surgery. Wendy has every intention of returning back to work and wishes she was working instead of all this but at this time is unable. And this is heartbreaking for her.,.
Please....open your hearts and your wallets for this brave, single mom so that she can continue to support her kids while getting the much needed hospital treatments and rest that she needs in order to fight this horrible disease. Apart from this disease, Wendy also suffers from high blood pressure, depression and anxiety and as you can imagine, fighting cancer has made these 3 conditions even worse.
If you do one good deed today, make it this one. Every little bit helps and would be greatly appreciated. Let's show this brave mom that she is NOT alone in her fight and that there are kind people out there willing to help someone that they haven't even met.
Thank you for reading this far and God bless. Will keep you up with her progress! xoxoxo
Organizer
Wendy Kouwenberg
Organizer
Saint-Hubert, QC