2014

Dana R. wrote a letter to the Love from Margot Foundation telling us her story- “First, I’d like to thank Mike Murphy and Margot for this incredible organization and the rare opportunity for so many women like me, who have prayed for this kind of help. Only one month after my diagnosis, I began to see the extraordinary need for foundations just like this, and have found nothing, and I have done a ton of research! What a touching way to commemorate the life and death of a beautiful soul.

I have been a single mom since the birth of my first child, in 1996 and had my second child in 2011. I had very little help as both of my children’s fathers left me with full custody and full responsibility. My oldest daughter’s father made some effort the first year of her life, and my second child’s father left just one month after learning I was pregnant.

On February 4th of this year I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I feel that the financial, physical and emotional burdens and all the fears that come with having to go the journey alone, had finally caught up to me.

With a cancer diagnosis, as I am sure you know, the only treatment available is standard care, which is limited to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Over the past several months, I have educated myself enough to know that the recommended treatment for me being surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy with Herceptin, will further deplete my immune system. Chemotherapy will destroy my healthy cels while going after the cancer cells and radiation will burn through my chest damaging and wreaking havoc on other vital organs (cells), such as my lungs and surgery takes a toll on the immune system as well.

One of the main things that remains a constant, is having carried the burden and fear of not having enough money to cover my treatments and therapies. I could not describe my experience about having a cancer diagnosis without describing how hopeless I often feel about not having access to quality care because insurance doesn’t cover alternative treatments. There are no words to describe how alone I often feel as I am constantly advocating for myself, by myself. Those of us living on a poverty level income are lucky to get through a normal day without the burden of health care expenses.

Just as importantly, there is no insurance coverage for counseling for my daughters, which is imperative for their well-being, especially when their mom is all they have. It is also critical to supply a diseased body with a nutrient rich diet, adequate rest, exercise, supplements and a plethora of therapies and necessary products to help support the immune system, all of which do not come without a price tag, and all of which, being without will likely make my situation unstable or get worse. The worry and concern creates a vicious cycle that takes the focus off of the real matter that I am dealing with. I see no end to the financial need for the rest of my life and that is very overwhelming and a huge concern for me. Please help me remove the fear of never having enough money to help save my life.”

The Love from Margot foundation was able to provide Dana with some much needed financial support to help ease her sense of fear, loneliness and hopelessness.