05/27/2022
In February of this year I had the pleasure of meeting a woman who was in need of childcare for her 6 month old son Casey. It’s not very often that I get a request for such a young child to require care, or for me to take them on, but after meeting Joyce I was happy to help in any way I could.
Joyce was battling stage 3 cervical cancer that she was diagnosed with days after her son Casey was born, she quickly started chemotherapy and radiation treatments in hopes of shrinking her tumour, which worked but unfortunately the cancer had still spread to her bones and lymph nodes.
In March her doctor told her she has less than a year life expectancy, let me you remind you, this is a healthy 30 year old woman, just had her first (and only child) and is engaged to the man of her dreams. The doctor told her she may get up to two years if she does her Chemotherapy treatments again and in a much more aggressive manor.
In the 3 months that I have known this family I have gone from caring for Casey two days a week and Joyce having some pain and fatigue at drop off and pick up to caring for Casey 5 days a week so Joyce can rest and go to all her appointments. It takes all she has each morning to get him up and in the truck to bring him to me, I now meet them outside for pick up and drop off to try to help with putting him in and out of his seat. Joyce still makes a point to hop out every day and come to his door and say goodbyes etc. Joyce has lost all her hair from her first round of chemo and has had countless things come about for her (postponing chemotherapy as her blood cell count’s weren’t good enough, a stint put in her kidney, mouth lesions from treatments, extreme nausea, fatigue and pain and so many more things) It’s been a mix of emotions watching her fight this battle but the most I feel is admiration. I can’t for one second imagine what she is facing, I try to put myself in her shoes and the thought is just unbearable. Yet every day this woman shows up to my house with a literal SMILE on her face. She loves her son more than anything and if we can help her get more time with him then let’s do it.
Last week Joyce was accepted into a clinical trial she found in the States. She will hopefully have everything done and be able to go within the next month or so, I made her a go fund me in hopes of taking the financial burden off of her and her fiancé so they can focus on what’s important. She is required to travel to the US twice for this treatment (all while undergoing her chemo) so it will be costly. I know Joyce would make it work with or without help from others, she is stubborn, but thankfully so as she is the only one advocating for her own treatment and she deserves all the help she can get.
Please, if you can help support Joyce to get the care she desperately needs to fight the cancer and get better for her family it would be so appreciated. I tried to keep all of the is as short as possible, thank you ♥️
“The day I had my son was the day I found out I had a large tumour in my cervix” ~ 30 year old m… Heather Grant needs your support for Beat Cancer For Casey
