leelandsteward11

[leelandsteward11]

Support a Mom-to-Be Battling Cancer

First off, thank you for showing interest in my wife's journey. Yara found out she was expecting our first baby the same week she found out she has cancer. After spending the little savings we had trying to conceive through IVF, we were faced with financial challenges since coming from 2 full time incomes to one now that Yara is focusing on fighting cancer, growing a baby and also finishing nursing school.

We are reaching out for any help during this time of need, whether it be through donation, prayer, or sharing of this page. The donations will be used toward transportation to her appointments, food, tolls, medical and utility bills, and medications to be used to manage side effects during chemo and radiation when the time comes. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Know the Full Story:

Yara is 33 years old and last year was faced with the 2 biggest challenges of her life, fighting breast cancer and also going through pregnancy. She always dreamed of becoming a mom and after trying naturally, we were faced with the hard news of infertility. Yara has endometriosis and in her case it would be nearly impossible to get pregnant naturally. We decided to go through the IVF route where we spent all of our savings on trying to grow our family. Yara stayed strong as she went through many procedures, exams and numerous injections. But it was all worth it, we got pregnant. The joy of knowing our baby is finally here was robbed by the cancer diagnosis. Yara was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer the same week she found out she was pregnant. A very aggressive cancer that needed attention and treatment immediately. We were faced with many uncertainties and what we were afraid of, became. true: Termination was recommended to be able tostart treatment as soon as possible because Chemotherapy is not safe in the first trimester. Yara and I were devastated, the baby we hoped for would have to be terminated, but she was determined to find a solution. She was still receiving multiple injections, blood work and ultrasounds from her IVF protocol for a chance of the baby staying even without being sure of the future. She decided to go for second and third opinions in regards to terminating the baby and best treatment. This involved 3 different hospitals, many doctors, different cities, different states to keep hearing that "termination was best". But finally, my wife found a surgeon that was willing to give us a chance of surgery before treatment to buy us time. Yara asked her team of doctors to agree for early surgery to “buy” her time to wait until she would reach the second trimester of pregnancy where it's safe to start chemotherapy treatment. She said if the results of surgery were not good (cancer in the lymph nodes or can't get clear margins from the cancer tissue) she would consider termination but if the results were good ( no cancer in the lymph nodes and clean margins) they would have to wait and let her get to the second trimester. Well, the surgery went better than expected and thanks to Yara's determination we were able to keep the baby and wait for treatment.

Yara started her chemo journey in January and so far has been trying her best to keep a positive mind and go through treatment, besides managing nursing school and pregnancy. With treatment becoming more intense, we have gone from two full time incomes to one and are facing financial challenges.

Yara's treatment and maternal fetal medicine specialist are 1 hour and half away. The cost with fuel, tolls, and food needed/used from each visit has taken a toll on our finances, along with our monthly utilities. We also ask for help with medication and supplies to help Yara navigate this challenging time, so she can focus on her treatment, growing a healthy baby and finishing the nursing degree she's always dreamed about.