Support Leanne through her breast cancer journey

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Leanne Mason received the devasting and shocking news that she has Stage 2 breast cancer. The diagnosis came only four days after discovering a strange lump on her breast in late June and was quickly followed up with surgery to remove the grade 4 tumour and surrounding lymph nodes.

Over the last four months, it has been a roller coaster of emotions that she has cautiously shared with family and friends.

Leanne’s life has shrunk to numerous medical appointments and hospital visits, sleepless nights, many tears, and battling through surgery that removed most of the cancer but left small cancerous cells. She experienced extreme pain from the cold cap during the “Red Devil” chemo, and suffered the debilitating effects of this chemo with its harsh attack on the body. Including nausea, fatigue, hair loss, extreme reflux, body/bone pain to name a few of the side effects.

Besides the physical pain, possibly the hardest was the emotional pain of being forced to heartbreakingly comprehend the possibility of leaving behind her husband and her beautiful 11yo daughter without a mother.

She has endured this with grace, honesty, and vulnerability but also with a strength that we know Leanne has bountiful of. She has ensured she has still attended her daughter’s concert, school events and kept involved in her interests. Even at the cost of her physical health, to make sure her daughter’s life can remain as “normal” as possible.

The dreaded “C” word is something that makes us all feel powerless, frightened, angry and very mortal. We live our lives hoping that this will never happen to us. Leanne is living with this right now and will continue with radiation therapy as her next hurdle to recovery. Her days are varied. Some are good; some are not. But Leanne is positive to beat this with her resilience and determination.

If you would like to support Leanne in her journey of recovery, we can raise money together to ease the burden of her medical expenses, assist with meals for her family, and contribute to buying a wig to make her feel herself again.

I have always known Leanne to be an incredibly loyal friend, an amazing mother, a hard worker and the first to offer help to others. Let's show up for her as she has done for us many times.

Any amount you can donate will be greatly appreciated. Please share to get the word out.

And if there is one thing you can take away from Leanne’s experience, it is to check your breasts.