Shelley Burrows

Hi everyone, it's very hard to write this, but I want to be able to reach out to everyone for love and support. I recently became part of the "Cancer Support Community," that is a fabulous resource, and they encouraged me to start this website.

I was diagnosed with lung cancer back in May after a month of hell doing various tests. On July 15 they removed the upper lobe of my right lung, with a 3cm malignant tumor in it. The hope was that we found it early and it hadn't spread. However, they biopsied several lymph nodes and found cancer in some of them. 😢 So it's now considered stage 3A. I just met with the oncologist and he is recommending 4 months of chemo followed by radiation. This sucks, of course, and I'm scared and sad about moving forward with the next phase.

I am on FMLA from my job at Kidspeace, and still waiting on short term disability for funds. My children have been a phenomenal support and held my hand through everything. I'm so grateful for their support, but it's emotionally, physically and financially draining on all of us. This last month since the surgery I have been home bound and mostly stuck on the couch, as the healing process has been arduous. I have not reached out to many people, for obvious reasons, and the pain is now great enough, so I've taken this giant step. Plus I don't often feel like talking to people on the phone, because it's emotionally painful to share most of this news, and I'm still in a lot of pain, and can get short of breath.

So I am looking for support and help through the next 4 months, because my kids can't do it all and I'll need lots of help. Such as rides and company for chemo, etc, cleaning, cooking healthy meals, and of course emotional and spiritual support. And hardest of all is to ask for some financial support, as I have no more pay coming from my job. And I still don't know if and/or when they will approve short term disability for me to get at least some income. My daughter is going to set up a "Gofundme" account if anyone is able to donate even just a little to help.

Mindy and I will keep this website updated so you and I can continue to stay connected and current.

I am an eternal optimist and mostly feel hopeful about getting through all this successfully. However I am human, and fear and sadness manage to sneak in. I love all of you and I know I have many peeps out there that care a lot about me. So please use this website to communicate with me and follow updates on my journey.

Warmly,

Shelley