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Hi, I'm Stephanie. I'm 29 years old — a mom to a beautiful little boy, a wife, and a proud third-grade special education teacher. For the past year, I have been battling breast cancer.
My diagnosis came while my husband and I were trying for baby number two and trying to buy our first home. In one moment, both dreams suddenly felt impossible.
Thanks to the generosity of so many people, I was able to pay for fertility preservation before treatment, 20 rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and six months without an income — because teachers don't get paid when they're out on medical leave.
But cancer doesn't stop the bills. Life in New York City is expensive, and while it's where the best doctors for my care are, it's also where my whole life is. When I learned I would need radiation and another 15 rounds of treatment, the financial weight became overwhelming, and I was forced to go back to work before I was truly ready.
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This disease has taken so much from me. It took my income. It took precious time with the people I love, including the chance to fully be there when I lost a family member. It took relationships I thought would survive anything. It put my dream of giving my son a sibling on hold, and delayed the dream of giving him a home of our own.
As a mom, all I can focus on now is giving him a childhood. A childhood where there is always food on the table. Where Mommy still gets down on the floor to play with him. Where he knows he is deeply loved — and doesn't have to carry the weight of knowing how sick his mom is.
Your support helps cover weekly chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation and medications; hospital bills; fertility preservation costs; unpaid leave and lost summer income; childcare during treatment and recovery days; tolls, gas and parking for weekly trips into the city; a medically necessary diet; my husband's lost income while caring for me; and the debt and household bills that kept coming all year.
If you can help — through a donation, by sharing this page, or with a simple prayer — it means more to our family than words can express. Every act of kindness lifts a weight off our shoulders and lets me focus on healing and being present for my son.
Thank you for reading my story. Please remind the women in your life to check themselves — early detection saves lives, and it might just save mine. Most of all, thank you for helping me give my son a childhood filled with love, stability and hope, even in the hardest season of our lives.
With love, Stephanie
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