Campaign Story

Hi there!

My name is Rebecca and when I was 30 years old I found out I was positive for the BRCA 2 gene mutation. At that moment I knew I wanted a Prophylactic mastectomy. I did not want any cancer in my body. I promised myself I would have my surgery before my 35th Birthday. I followed through and in June 2018 I had my prophylactic bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. My first surgery ever! The worst part was the anxiety leading up to it. I was able to breeze through recovery but ended up needing two more revision surgeries.

My left implant was acting up so I was sent for an MRI. That MRI saw nothing on the left but ended up discovering cancer in my right chest wall. The news was beyond shocking. How was this even possible? I only had my mastectomy 13 months prior. I did everything I could to avoid getting cancer. Not only did I have breast cancer, but I also had triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive and deadly forms of breast cancer. I went for a consultation to freeze my eggs but since the cancer growth rate was so high, I needed to start chemo immediately. After several months of chemo treatments and multiple complications including a jugular blood clot, I continued on to an additional 30 radiation treatments.

It was a long and tough journey but I made it through and tougher on the other side. While going through the emotional and physical difficulties of cancer I also got divorced from an unsupportive and emotionally abusive partner.

In 2022 I married my wonderful husband, Jason. We both come from two loving families and would like to start our own. Together we have two beautiful dogs but we would love to add a human child to our family. However, over the last two years, we have been unsuccessful with multiple attempts of IUI and IVF treatments due to the detrimental effects of my chemotherapy. We would like to now try using a donor egg, which the fertility doctor said has a high probability rate of pregnancy. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, the costs we have already spent on the failed IUI and IVF treatments have been enormous, and obtaining a donor egg would even require a larger amount of money.

My husband works in local government and I work for a small animal hospital. Although we’ve been diligent about saving money and investing throughout our careers, the last two years have pretty much depleted all of our funds. It’s a hard pill for us to swallow to ask for help. We are both very proud individuals who work hard and try to do everything by the book.

We thank you for listening to our story and appreciate your generosity.