Help Steph Porter Fight Breast Cancer

Hi my name is Ashley, and I am fundraising on behalf of my sister, Stephanie Porter. On October 18, 2023 she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She is 38 years old, married, and has three daughters - ages 18, 11, and 9. Her oldest daughter will be graduating from Sandy Valley High School this year.

Her other two daughters attend Louisville Elementary School and play softball with the Plain Local Little Lady Eagles.

Our mother, Shari, is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with DCIS at age 47 and had a bilateral mastectomy. Luckily, she did not need to undergo any further treatment and it was all removed with surgery.

Now it's Steph's turn... Oddly enough, Stephanie doesn't even have a breast cancer gene! Her invasive ductal carcinoma is Progestin and Estrogen positive, and HER2 negative. She strongly believes this was from being on birth control for so many years, as her birth control contained both hormones.

Since her diagnosis, she has been stuck in a whirlwind of appointments, tests, procedures, phone calls, and research. Her only option was to start treatment immediately. She decided to have a bilateral mastectomy as well, instead of lumpectomies to remove her 2 tumors. She will have multiple reconstructive surgeries and will definitely need to be on hormonal therapy for 5-10 years.

She had her bilateral mastectomy on November 27th and is now recovering, which takes about 4-6 weeks. They removed 4 lymph nodes, which were clear, thank the Lord! However, lymphovascular invasion was identified. She is currently awaiting her oncotype scores to see if chemotherapy or radiation will be needed and to see if it has spread through her blood stream. Her reconstruction surgery date is TBD, but will hopefully be in February/March, as long as she does not need chemo and/or radiation. The 1st reconstruction procedure will require 6-8 weeks of recovery time hen additional procedures to follow if the tissue transfers "don't take", which can take 3-4 follow up procedures.

Unfortunately, Stephanie will be unable to work during her treatments, which will be financially challenging for her family. So far, we know it will be at least $14,000 (out of pocket costs due to her max out of pocket amount for the year) that they will be facing. Without her income these next few months, they will not be able to cover all of their monthly expenses (car payments, house payment, food, senior expenses for her oldest daughter, etc...)

With more surgeries to come and the holidays fast approaching, I am reaching out to anyone who may be able to contribute to making this a less financially draining process, so that Stephanie can focus on her recovery and her family isn't burdened by any extra stress during this time!

I know she wants to get through this as quickly as possible to get back to normal - back to work, exercising, taking care of the household, and running the girls around to practices and games. We are hoping we can lighten this burden so she can look back at this challenging moment in her life and know she kicked cancer's @$$ and nothing stood in her way, instead of it being a very stressful time with worry, pain, and debt.

We really appreciate all of the love and support she has already received, and we are hopeful that she will have a smooth recovery. She has a tough road ahead, but has a very strong support system. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Thank you so much! We appreciate each and every one of you!!!