On January 6, 2025, our entire world was changed when we found out that our only daughter, Alyssa (Bille) Adams, was diagnosed with breast cancer (invasive ductal carcinoma). At the young age of 26, with a new chapter in her life just beginning with her husband Peter, this came as a total shock. Alyssa said to me early on, “Mom it is supposed to be marriage then babies…not marriage then cancer”. How helpless I felt when I had no answers to such a tragic announcement.
Alyssa underwent a double mastectomy and sentinel node removal on February 26, 2025. As a parent who lives many miles away, I was blessed to be able to travel to Massachusetts for over a month to help Peter care for Alyssa after her first operation. Due to some healing issues, Alyssa eventually had visiting nurses come daily and, as such, she remained out of work until May 12, 2025.
Because Alyssa is Her2 positive, despite the double mastectomy, she still requires chemotherapy. Alyssa’s port was placed on May 1, 2025 and her chemo began on May 23, 2025. Alyssa will have chemo every 3 weeks until next year, with her treatment not ending until June, 2026.
Alyssa will be out of work on the days she has chemo, and any days she is overcome by the side effects that chemo is causing, which loss of work is affecting her income.
The emotional and financial burden of surviving breast cancer is a challenge at any stage of life. With the IVF treatments for egg freezing they were able to squeeze in before Alyssa’s surgery, and the reconstruction surgery which will take place sometime after the first 6 rounds of the TCHP chemo regimen, with an estimated 3 week recovery timeline for the reconstruction surgery, she will again be out of work during that healing process. She will also need to be followed very closely by her medical team for the rest of her life.
Alyssa is showing a brave front, but I can tell that the financial stress is building as her income is cut while she fights this fight. While Tom and I have assisted with medical bills as best we can, and many family members and friends have lent their support already, the post-surgery struggles seem to be never ending. Alyssa’s prognosis is promising, but that doesn’t negate she has a long road ahead of her. She is counting the small blessings that come her way, but watching from the outside in, when you see someone you love battling cancer, you feel hopeless, wishing it was you who could take this burden on yourself instead of your loved one. It is just not possible to take away that hurt and this deadly disease.
This is why I am creating this fundraiser. With two stubborn people who refuse to outright ask for help, I am hoping that Alyssa and Peter will not have to worry about the household and medical bills while Alyssa is on this recovery road. We always see others struggling, but until the world stops for a second, and now it’s you who gets told you have cancer, reality changes your life forever: with it comes along fear, anxiety, depression, financial burdens, etc. As many of you know, those that may have had cancer, or are battling cancer, a token of your understanding of the post-surgery struggles that are not healed by medicine is greatly appreciated. Life goes on whether you have cancer or not and bills don’t care.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you are not in a position to donate, I ask that you share this with your friends in hopes that Alyssa and Peter will not have to worry about this financial hardship as she struggles to recover.
