Help Shelly Kemp!

This is the full story, in her own words.

-last April, april of 2011, I was diagnosed with stage 2b breast cancer. The tumor was removed, I went through chemotherapy and then radiation, working the entire time because it was not an option not too. It was part time so it put a huge financial strain on my family. In January I convinced my doctor to release me back to work full time, my treatments were over except for herceptin infusions every 3 weeks. I was so excited thinking we would be able to catch up bills and pay some of the out of pocket medical bills i had acquired...then my husband was laid off. I decided we could still make this work, with his unemployment, this would give him a chance to get his high school diploma and some schooling he had long desired. For the past several months we've eked by. My health has been fine other than a persistent and increasing back pain that I attributed to my different sized breasts, a result of the lumpectomy, I have pushed through the pain every day. I've had too, without my income we sink. 2 weeks ago my right arm went completely crazy one evening, hurting horribly and swelling to 3 times normal. This being my cancer side and having had 10 lymph nodes removed from it it does act up from time to time but this bad was unusual so Chris (my husband) took me into the ER. The did a ct and ultrasounds to make sure I didn't have a blood clot, I didn't, wanted to admit me for observation, I said no thank you, have to work tomorrow. I wrote it off to over use and went on with life. I had had a mammogram the week before and was more concerned with that. When I went in on Thursday July 5th for my follow up and results I had a secret, I had received a letter from women's imaging and my mammo was normal! Woohoo! Everything was wonderful, and was going to work out with hard work and determination. I could tell my dr wasn't as happy as I was with the results and figured he was just having a bad day, then he said the words that have changed my life " Shelly we need to talk about the ct scan you had last week" apparently I have something, we are not sure yet it is cancer but odds are not good, growing on my third thorasic vertebrae. Now we know why my back pain is ever increasing. My family and I have talked and cried and come to the conclusion we need to go home to GA where my mama and daddy live. We all wanted to after our last visit in march but I wouldn't consider it because I didn't want to take my kids 1000 miles from their biological dad. Things have changed though, we need the loving embrace of my mama, daddy, brothers and their families. We've come up with a solution to the distance problem by deciding to waive child support, except for help with major purchases so that my ex can use that money to travel to us, he has a work schedule that is 5-7 days on 6-10 off, or to bring the kids to him, they can miss a few days of school a month. He has the ability to do this, especially since the only cost to him is airline tickets (about $200 round trip)he can stay in our home with the kids while visiting and we can stay with mama and daddy or he can stay with them, where if they stayed with him I would be unable to financially and physically and they would be with a nanny 50% of the time. Where with us they are with my husband and I or family. Is it ideal? No, but it is workable and allows them to remain close. See I've accepted the fact I will have to go on disability if I ever hope to heal, if God willing I am able to from whatever this new tumor is. What I'm asking for is help. This is very hard for myself and my husband but we have no other choice. He has the job opportunitys there to support our family, finish his education and do something he truly enjoys, we just need help getting there, getting established and paying medical bills. I need to know we have a home, are able to pay our bills and that I can get the treatment I need. I am so sorry to ask, friends, family and strangers but it is the only option. I can not push myself anymore, I am so very tired. I have figured out that if we can raise $20000to $25000 it will be enough to pay my outstanding medical bills, get us home, get us a home and get us by until my disability kicks in and our feet are firmly planted. We are sinking fast here, I lay a wake at night worrying how we are going to make it through the next week. Most importantly I will not have to worry and can focus on healing. Please anything will help, it all adds up to get us home. Thank you for reading this and all of your thoughts and prayers.