Mary's Fight Against Cancer

Back in September of 2016, my best friend's mom (my second mom), Mary, was diagnosed with stage 2 borderline stage 3 invasive breast cancer. Her treatment started about 2 weeks after that, and is still ongoing. Since September, she has had about 9 rounds of chemo and a double mastectomy, which has caused her a great deal of pain. During her first rounds of chemo, she had some horrible side effects, leading her to be hospitalized multiple times for fluid build-up in her lungs, pneumonia, and mild congestive heart failure.

After her last round of chemo (which is very soon), she will start radiation, which will last anywhere from 5-7 weeks, 5x a week.  A couple months after that, she hopes to start reconstructive surgery, depending on what effects she has from the radiation. Since the start of her fight, she took a leave of absence from work. Mary was on short-term disability, and in March it stopped and she has no income for the months since.  She is filling out the new paperwork to try to get it reinstated.

Mary is still on leave from work due to the side effects from her chemo and from her continuing treatments, and her insurance copays are on the higher end depending on the medication that she needs. In addition to worrying about hospital bills and all her medical treatments, she is also trying to pay her monthly rent for her apartment. Due to the rising price of rent at her apartment complex, she has decided to move in December when her lease is up, but does not know where she will be moving to.

Her primary caretaker is her 23-year-old daughter, Taylor, who is a sister to me. Taylor drives Mary to all her treatments and appointments and is working 2 jobs to try and help out. Mary is a single mother and has been for most of Taylor's life, which is why Taylor wants to pay her back and try and help her out for everything she did while she was growing up.

While I know that she is fighting and winning this battle, the stress of the financial burden is too much Mary to bear at such a scary time in her life, and honestly should not be an added weight on her shoulders. She has always been there for my family and I, and I want to be there for her and that is why I started this campaign.

Any contribution can help make Mary's fight easier and take some stress out of both her and her daughter's lives.  
Whatever you can do to help - whether through donation or sharing or both - is much appreciated.