Tina, our dog foster mom has CANCER AGAIN

There was a time in my life I knew how to write a compelling story that would attract the interest of the readers from the very first line I wrote, but I have lost that knack over time. Now I'm not so sure how to start my story so I just have to start with what I feel in my heart and go from there.

I have one very special foster mom that has been with me for almost 6 years now. She has taken in every kind of case known. Her pure and total love of All animals exceeds anything that I have ever really seen. She was rescuing animals long before she came into my life and really rocked my rescue world for all of her expertise in so many different ways. with so much knowledge, medically and otherwise. Her compassion and empathy matched mine to a tee. There is not a dog she would turn down, a baby bunny, a fallen baby squirrel or anything that people called her about at all hours of the day or night.

When you have someone like this in your life for even just a year, you become way more than a foster, you become more than fast friends. You love them like family. You know almost all there is to learn about them in their personal lives, all of the tragedies they have faced in their lifetime. All of the beautiful things too, but not so many of them. This foster has not only worked for and with the animals but also the stray teens in her area where she would bring them into foster and also adopt some of them

When I met her, she told me that she had cancer, but had already gone through the surgeries needed to remove it from her breast and all of the treatment that goes along with it. She was given a year more or less :( She is a fragile woman, yet a very strong woman that has long outlived her prognosis. She actually reached her 50th birthday which they said she would never see. She says it's because of Operation Shelter Dog and all of the animals that she has brought into her home. Seniors, hospice, physically broken, little dogs and very big dogs with problems that needed some kind of training or another. We have worked through thick and thin together, even when we saw no hope left.

This is where I get really serious now, as our hearts within this rescue are broken over the news we recently got. Tina Roane has had Covid 4 times in the last 2 years. She has been in and out of the hospital for things that would be minor for most people but with her very low immune system, her simple things turn into huge health problems. A dog bite can send her for a stay because she got an infection in her bones. Her last bout was for an 11 day hospital stay recently for Ulcerative Colitis. They thought they would end up putting in a colostomy bag, but thank God they finally got it under control. What none of us expected was that they would find her breast cancer had come back while she was in there At this time it is unknown how far it has spread. :( She went to the oncologist this afternoon and will be going to the surgeon for a consult tomorrow. Of course, she will more than likely have to go through chemo and radiation again. HOW MUCH CAN A FRAGILE HUMAN BODY TAKE IN JUST 2 SHORT YEARS??? Her only biological child, her daughter, is about to go into labor with Tina's second grandchild and to be honest, though none of this can be changed or fixed right now, Tina has not been able to work for a while, her daughter is out on maternity leave and there is absolutely no income, coming into that home.

We have been there for her always to help support her in any way that we can but obviously. it has become far too much to handle at this point. For the Love Of All That's Holy can this woman please catch a break somewhere??

Right now we need all of the communities support we can get. 1st and foremost we need to raise as much money as we possibly can to get her bills paid, her mortgage paid and food kept on her table. Her measly disability covers nothing. We are helping her care for all of her own personal dogs as much as we possibly can.

Gift cards in any amount will help with some of these things and can be mailed to Christina McManama at 205 Lowden Hunt Dr, Hampton, VA 23666.

I have to think realistically here. We don't know the future, but we can only offer our love, support and any hope that we can to keep her strong without having to worry about all of this. I can't even imagine being in this position

If you want to send dog food, reach out to me and I will tell you what she feeds her dogs.

Julie Smith and I will get her bills paid with the money that we raise.

Please be a part of the Army that we need to make this happen to ease the mental anguish and financial burden she is going through.

I send so much love out to those of you for any support you can give