Support Melissa Simmons' Fight Against Stage 4 Breast Cancer

I HAVE ADDED UPDATES TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS FUNDRAISER STORY. THANK YOU ALL

Hello everyone, my name is Kathy Hawn and we live on beautiful Whidbey Island, in Washington State. I have a Facebook page that posts about local emergencies from a scanner. One of my two moderators is Melissa Simmons. She is an Emergency Medical Technician for the South Whidbey Fire Department. She started working there at the age of 16 as a firefighter and acquired her EMT certification and continues to work there in that capacity. Melissa also works for Washington State Ferries as a Quartermaster. Her working schedule is a full one. As a single mother of a 12-year-old son, she works hard to provide for her family.

In September of this year, following a routine mammogram, two lumps were found in her left breast. Subsequent biopsies showed one to be a Grade 2 and the other a Grade 3 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. She had a lumpectomy and lymph node biopsies at the end of November. One sentinel node showed to be cancer as well.

Her journey is in its infancy, with many tests to come, such as CT scans, bone scans, and the beginning treatments and medications needed to fight this breast cancer diagnosis with peace of mind. I am setting this up for her so she will not have to worry about financial burdens to come and can fight this disease head-on. She is a strong and dedicated single parent who has given so much to this island community as a public servant and I am hoping you will assist her here, and help give back to her for the biggest fight of her life. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read her story. Also, for those of you who do not wish to donate through the GoFundMe service , you can donate directly at any Whidbey Island Bank to Melissa Simmons, Acct# ending in 7373. Thank you

Today, January 15th, 2025, Melissa had her Bone Scan to identify any metastasis throughout her body. Sadly, they did locate several areas of probable and possible metastasis. This adds a bit of urgency to her scenario, and it will determine the aggressiveness of her treatment plan, which is yet to be determined. She has a cardiac work up then sees her Oncologist at WhidbeyHealth in a weeks time. We very much wish to thank all of your for your donations thus far, and we know her battle is just beginning and she needs your help now more than ever. Her fight will be an aggressive one but she understands the severity and will fight what is to come. Thank you all so much.

March 16th 2025 Here are updates Melissa has recently shared……

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With cancer spreading to my bones I finally have a treatment plan. I’ll be doing daily chemo pills (kisqali) and monthly infusions of Zometa to strengthen my bones, plus daily estrogen blocker pill I’m already on and a monthly implant injection in my stomach I’ve been on also. Then scans in 3 months to see how it’s working. Also I have 5 days of radiation (15 minute appts) to my femur that has some cancer cells that he wants to kill so they don’t do any more damage there. Bring it on lol

With stage 4 it will be a lifetime of appointments, CT scans, PET scans, MRIs and treatments. Hoping to be able to work as much as I can, but the Gofundme will help me take days off for doctors appts and treatments needed to keep fighting anything truly helps, even just sharing