Hello all, my name is Tonya and I am starting a Go Fund Me to help out my amazing cousin, Tina Gill. For all who know and love our tiny Tina, we all know how giving she is of her time, her creativity, her style, her infectious energy, her amazing sense of humor and laugh, the thoughtful gifts that she always gives "just because," ...and last, but certainly not least, her enormous, loving heart. We all love her for all of this and so much more, and I am posting this so we all can rally together to give back to Tina at a time when she needs it more than ever. It's our turn to give and for Tina to receive (something she is having a hard time asking for). Tina's story follows below, but right now, Tina isn't doing well and the cancer has come back surprisingly fast. She hasn't been able to work as much as she needs to, and that's why I am creating this page so we can help her! A Little Bit About Tina Tina's journey with cancer started with a yoga challenge in January (and for those who don't follow Tina's blog, do yourselves a favor and check it out now, especially this story, "Yoga saved my life "). In early January, Tina felt a mass and immediately started following up on it and scheduling surgery to remove it; it was determined it wasn't a mass on its own, but it was her ovary that had enlarged and was cancerous. So, she and her oncologist determined that she would have a full hysterectomy, and depending on the surgical outcomes, she may need chemo. Tina shared her journey with an additional blog post on March 13, "You got this!", and expressed her deepfelt gratitude for all who reached out with words of encouragement, texts, cards, and more following her first blog post. She also shared her fear going into her upcoming chemotherapy. True to Tina's giving nature, she made sure she grew her hair to the length that is required to donate it, knowing she would lose it after chemo. She cut it off prior to her first chemo session and shared a post with her friends with a message, "hair today, gone tomorrow". Tina's first round of chemo came on March 17, and she finished her third round on April 27. In early May, Tina had her post-op appointment with her oncologist and her CA 125 (ovarian cancer marker) blood test was 11. Normal is 0-36. We all rejoiced! Yay Tina! But now, here we are in July, and Tina has been experiencing extreme bloating and discomfort for more than a month, and she began to become ill last week. She went to the ER and they did a CT scan and saw that the lining of her abdomen was full of fluid. They were able to drain it (10 LBS of fluid!), and found that her CA 125 (ovarian cancer marker test) is high again...we are waiting for more test results to return but Tina's oncologist told her this week that Tina's cancer has returned, and she has a tough road ahead of her yet to come. For those who know Tina, you know that she is a small business owner and an amazing stylist, and her partner (and the day-to-day angel caring for her), Jeff, works with her too. Throughout this journey, Tina has been unable to keep working at the energy level and pace she is accustomed to, and her income (and Jeff's income) has suffered and will continue to do so in the months to come. Her family has helped her financially where they can, and Tina told me that she has some savings that she can use, but I don't want to see her deplete her savings to a point where it becomes a severe hardship for her (and I know there are so many of her friends that feel this way too!!). Tina needs our help, and I am asking everyone to please donate any amount that you can to help her make ends meet this year. She is looking at three more months of lost income, at the very least, in addition to the income she's lost since March. Any amount that you can give to support Tina is welcomed--no gift is too small!! Thank you so much for your support of my beautiful cousin--she is one the best people I know, and while she won't ask for help, I can unabashedly ask for it for her. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH, TINA!! YOU GOT THIS, GIRL. XO
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