Breast Cancer Recovery Funds - Katie Berto

This isn't easy for me to write, and it's a request I never thought I'd have to make. I'm here to ask for help, with my wife's Preventative Cancer treatment.

Later this year, in September to be exact, my 28 year old wife will undergo a Double-Mastectomy to due a genetic mutation found in her blood that will, if left untreated, turn to Breast Cancer. This disease has already impacted her family in ways that words cannot describe. Most recently her mother, who just last year underwent the same procedure for the presence of the same genetic mutation found in HER mother. During the surgery, the surgeons confirmed the presence of breast cancer and informed that had she waited any longer she would have needed Chemotherapy to treat the disease in hopes it didn't have time to spread. 2 years ago, my wife's grandmother unfortunately lost her battle with this same godforsaken disease which she had previously fought and beaten 3 times. The 4th was too much and we all had to say goodbye to a woman who had battled cancer more times than any one person should have to. Now it's my wife's turn to fight, and fight she shall. We are fighting this together, and we will not let this cancer rear it's ugly head in our home, but we need your help. 

I'm going to share my wife's story directly from her Facebook post from earlier this year, but before I do want to emphasize the following: her direct treatment is being taken care of. The surgeries she will have to endure are being covered; however, everything that comes next will not. 

The medications she will need for pain and recovery will not be covered. The childcare expenses that we will incur while she's unable to care for our own children due to weight and mobility restrictions will not be covered. The salary from work that she will lose during the 6 week recovery time will not be covered. The hotel expenses that we will have as we travel away from home to the nearest surgeon accepting of our insurance company will not be covered. The semi-new wardrobe my wife will need to replace the shirts and tops that will not longer fit will not be covered. These examples and more are the associated costs that insurance doesn't cover, but will be needed regardless.

We are not asking for people to help pay for a $40,000 surgery, but the surgery is all our insurance will cover. The associated costs are being estimated at several thousands of dollars in which we do not have, and cannot afford without assistance.

Below you will find see the story that my wife shared on Facebook when she decided it was time to let friends and family in on the secret we had been holding. We have met with the surgeons, and with the surgery scheduled it's all becoming more and more real. In a few short my months my wife is going to be one of the 1,000s of women in this country to lose her breasts this year alone. We hope that if you can't help us, you support whatever local Breast Cancer research firm you can. This disease is awful, and we need to do whatever we can to irradiate it from the planet.

https://www.facebook.com/katieberto1217/posts/2349279995306528