Tirzah Cooper & Family

Hello, my name is Amy.

I have known Tirzah since we were 12 years old, she asked me for a pencil the first day of grade 8 and... the rest is history. Tirzah is and has always been beautiful inside and out. She is kind, generous and loving. I admire her vibrancy, inner strength and ability to always be herself, no matter what. Tirzah has been a spark in my life, an inspirational lead character in my life story. 

Everyone who has been lucky enough to have Tirzah in their life knows how much she gives to others through her openness, honesty, vulnerability, strength and tenacity. 

 Tirzah is 36 years old and lives in Saskatoon. Tirzah works for a Reconstructive Plastic Surgeon and recently started her own photography business which she carries out in her free time. Tirzah is a mother of two amazing children; Vayda, 17 and Mason, 12. Tirzah is engaged to Ricky Forbes, the love of her life. They are a connected and loving family that have a strong support system for one another. 

Tirzah is like a sister to me, she is my family.

When Tirzah told me she was diagnosed with breast cancer, I immediately started to think about anything and everything that I could possibly do to help her, as I know she would do for me, or really anyone else because she is that person. 

Everything happened quickly when Tirzah first noticed a lump in her breast had grown in a matter of weeks. After a biopsy confirmed it was Stage 2 invasive carcinoma, everything became very real.

Tirzah is starting aggressive Chemotherapy on July 8th, and will be having weekly treatments for a total of 5 months. After her treatments are over, she will have her first (of 3) surgery.

She will need a "Bilateral Mastectomy with placement of Tissue Expanders" which means she will be having her breasts removed and starting the process of stretching her skin. After she has healed from this first surgery, she will require a number of follow up appointments to slowly fill these expanders in her chest to slowly allow the skin to expand. A few months later she will have her tissue expanders replaced with implants.

Down the road after she has healed, Tirzah will also need to have her ovaries removed as her type of breast cancer is hormone driven. This will be done to prevent the risk of ovarian cancer.

This is going to be a very long road for Tirzah, Ricky, Vayda and Mason. Tirzah is currently off work so she can focus on her health and prepare for her treatment to begin. Tirzah's family is taking as much time as they can to be there to support her and help her while she recovers over the next year and a half. 

Through it all - Tirzah is staying positive and is using her story and knowledge to help other young women be aware of the early signs and symptoms. She wants to share her story to hopefully bring awareness to other young women, and to get the message across that this does happen to women her age, and how to catch it early.

I have started this GoFundMe as a way to support Tirzah and her beautiful family through this journey. As you can imagine, lost wages, medical and living expenses will take a toll on their family this year. The last thing I want is the addition of financial stress to a situation that will require daily optimism and stability for everyone in the family.  

Thank you for taking the time to read about Tirzah and her family's story.

Any donation amount is appreciated and truly goes a long way - not only from a financial aspect, but your kindness will help give Tirzah the strength she needs to get through this and continue to inspire us.

Follow her Journey Here:

https://msha.ke/tirzahcooper/