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Fighting breast cancer in a pandemic

Just when I thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse in March of this year I experienced pain in my right breast and that lead to me finding a lump.  My heart sank immediately. I’m only 31 years old and I have a three year old daughter to take care of I couldn’t possibly have breast cancer.  After some googling I convinced my self it was only a cyst because I didn’t have any other signs of breast cancer other then the lump. So I put off going to the doctor because I was scared either way.  Finally after some convincing from my mom and my sister I scheduled an appointment for May 27 I wanted to wait until after I celebrated my daughter’s 3rd birthday which was May 2nd just in case it was bad news. On May 6 I went to my doctor and and she performed a breast exam and she felt the lump and referred me for a mammogram. May 27 I had my first mammogram and they knew right away something was wrong, I knew right away something was wrong. The mass could very clearly be seen on the mammogram it was about the size of a golf ball. About 30 minutes after the mammogram I had an ultrasound of the mass and from there was referred for a biopsy. On June 4th I had a biopsy of the mass and of the lymph nodes under my right arm. On June 7 in the middle of my work shift I got a call from my primary care doctor with the news that the biopsy was positive and I did indeed have breast cancer. My world completely shattered. I left work and broke the news to my family. After I received my diagnosis I met with my breast surgeon and my oncologist and they decided the best course of treatment would be to do chemo first to shrink the tumor and do the breast surgery followed by radiation and a chemo pill. So I have a long road ahead of me. My job closed due to the pandemic in March for safety but we were back open by May 18. I worked almost everyday until July 8 after being on this job for five years. I was a part time employee so I don’t have any benefits other than fmla and unemployment . I started chemo on July 13 . I didn’t feel like it would be safe for me to keep working while being on chemo in the middle so I asked to be taken of the schedule for the foreseeable future. I worked as a cashier at one of the largest attractions in Atlanta so I would be coming into contact with 100’s of strangers every day some of whom refused to wear        mask. I was too afraid to risk it. My job had some safety measures in place but it doesn’t feel like enough when my immune system is compromised. Now I’m concerned about my financial future.  Medicade  takes care of my health care cost which is a blessing but I still need help paying bills and taking care of my family. I live with my mom and my siblings. I have up until now been the primary bread winner for my family and my mom did Postmates and watched my daughter and took care of my younger siblings while I worked. Due to me having cancer my mom has had to work less because she takes care of me and doesn’t want to expose me to anything.  I don’t have a car of my own so my mom takes me to the majority of my appointments and the few times she hasn’t been able to due to car trouble I have to rely on Uber/Lyft and that has been very expensive usually about $40 for a round trip.  So I’m asking if you can donate anything to keep me and my family afloat while I fight breast cancer during a pandemic.

Organizer

Quentia Turner
Organizer
Atlanta, GA

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