Hey everyone, my name is Alex Ivy. I’m 22 years old and I’m from Starkville. I have two siblings and a mother I love with all of my heart❤️.
Back in Oct-Nov 2021, I started having problems with my left leg. It started off with slight pain in my leg and hip when I would be on my feet at my job. As a few weeks went by, it would hurt to even stand for more than 30 minutes. It eventually started to hurt to even put weight on my left leg. I ended up ignoring it because I thought I wasn’t stretching enough or it was just something very minor. I didn’t realize it was something wrong until my leg started going numb for hours at a time. I decided to go to my doctor to see if it was anything. They did an MRI on me but didn’t see anything. So after that first visit, I decided to stretch more and take it easier at my job. I ended up making another visit after the pain increased and the numbness started lasting longer. They decided to do an X-RAY on me this time. When my results came back, they informed me that I had a mass in my ilium (pelvic bone).
My doctor informed me that they could not tell if it was benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). He did recommend that I went to a specialist. Fast forward to my visit with the specialist in 2022, she informed me that I would need to do a biopsy to see what kind of mass it was. Fast forward to after having my biopsy, my specialist informed me that my mass was a malignant tumor. Hearing this news broke me. Cancer is known to run in my family, but I didn’t expect myself to have it at this age. Regardless of the news, I tried my hardest to stay positive and be in good spirits about the situation. My specialist recommended that I started chemotherapy, but I knew the effects of chemo. I also had to consider the costs of my visits and treatment. I knew I was nowhere near financially stable to support myself and afford those costs. My immediate family isn’t well off or financially stable either, so I knew that I wouldn’t be able to reach out to them for help. I didn’t want to put them through that worry and stress. I decided to try to continue on without the treatment and see if I could handle it all myself. This was my first mistake. Not long after, my job decided to let me go due to me “not being able to keep up with their needs and I couldn’t perform my job duties at 100%.” This news broke me even more and I was starting to see my mental health decline. It took a few months before I was successful at getting another job. Unfortunately for me, my job’s pay is not enough to handle my bills and to support myself. The pain and numbness in my leg and hip continues to worsen as time goes by, but I’m still pushing through regardless.
After debating with myself for the past few weeks, I finally decided to reach out for help and created this fundraiser. My leg pain is becoming worse over time, and I’ve decided that I can’t ignore my health and put this off any longer. I reached out to my doctor to see how much I would need for my visits and treatments. Altogether, the total cost is $9,700. They also gave me the option to have it removed, but the amount of money that’s needed is so much more than my treatment, plus the time and cost for physical therapy after the procedure. I have reached out to a few that are close to me to help in any way, but unfortunately, they aren’t able and aren’t in the position to financially help me. I don’t want to die young. I have so much that I want to live for. I don’t want to leave my siblings and mom early like this. I know it would break their hearts. I don’t want to leave them with that type of grief and sadness. I don’t want to see them struggling for anything if I were to have the worst happen. I don’t usually ask for help and take on all my struggles myself, but at this moment I’m desperate for help. I want to be able to push through this battle and continue to do good for any and everyone around me. I want to win this battle and continue to live on to my fullest potential. Even if it’s only $1 that’s being donated, I’m very grateful and appreciative for any amount. Please find it in your heart to help me. I really do thank you all for taking the time out to read my story❤️❤️
