Stacey Buie- Metastatic Breast Cancer

World, meet Stacey.

Stacey is a 43-year-old single mom. I say that she's a mom 1st when describing who she is because being a mom to Jackson, 15, has always been her most important and joyful gift. He is her entire world and she is his. Aside from being an amazing mom, Stacey is a caregiver by trade. She worked as a CNA at our local hospital for 10 years and has been an independent caregiver for the past 13 years. She is selfless and kind, so caring for older adults is the perfect job for her. Stacey is a faithful friend. She has never met a stranger and shows compassion and friendliness to anyone she has ever met. Stacey isn't in perfect health. In 2014, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She spent several long stints in the hospital suffering from ketoacidosis, she suffers from chronic pain and neuropathy. She managed to get those symptoms under control and began living her life again as a brittle diabetic, but in late 2021, our world came crashing down when Stacey was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

In October of 2021, Stacey went for her annual wellness check and her gynecologist found a lump. They sent her for a mammogram, where they found cancer. They sent her for more testing, they found it has spread to her lymph nodes. They took her breast. They sent her for more testing, and found it has spread to her spine and sternum. They sent her for more testing, and found it has likely spread to her hip (waiting on biopsy results). You get where I am going with this. Every appointment brings more devastating news. UNC didn't give her much hope at her 1/4/22 oncology appointment. They said there's no cure, only recommended oral chemo to hopefully slow the spread. We are not okay with that approach!!

What I didn't mention above, is Stacey is a fighter! Stacey has advocated for herself and reached out to Cancer Treatment Centers of America and they have given her HOPE! She will go to CTCoA at the end of January for an assessment and new treatment plan. Stacey has an army of people praying for her, a tribe of friends who want to help her so she be there for Jackson for a very long time. As a single mom, raising her only child you can imagine how much she wants to be present for the milestones coming up in his life. She wants to see him graduate, see him excel in a career, see him get married, meet her grandchildren!

Given the diagnoses and the upcoming treatment plan, Stacey has been unable to work for the last 8 weeks and will be unable to work for the foreseeable future. Although we love the idea of "boots on the ground", traditional fundraising, that seems almost impossible during this pandemic. So, we've turned to the best way we know how to help raise money for Stacey and Jackson- Go-Fund-Me. Please consider donating to them so Stacey can fight for her life!

Update - Stacey asked me to share this!!