Teri Harget’s Cancer Treatment - Ways to Give Support
Hi everyone,
As some of you may have already heard, our dear friend and community member Teri Harget was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She discovered this a few weeks ago while doing a routine breast self-exam, and she has been undergoing many tests to determine the severity of the cancer as well as what her best treatment options are.
To make matters even harder, Teri had just begun a new job in the weeks before she was diagnosed, and therefore she was not covered by medical insurance at the time of her diagnosis. Hence, her medical bills are already in the thousands, and there will still be additional medical fees to cover even as her insurance begins to cover it.
For those of you who don’t know her - Teri is a mother of 4 children as well as an MFT intern who is working to complete her hours towards licensure as a therapist. She has a huge heart and a welcoming smile, and is always there with an open ear for others. People just plain feel good in her presence.
We love her a ton and so we are reaching out to her communities to request support in various ways. Financial support will be the best way to help her right now, so that she can go through her medical treatment without the added worry of how to make ends meet at home given the mounting medical bills. But, even if you aren’t in a place of being able to donate, please keep reading because there are other ways to offer her and her family support as well.
Ways that you can help:
1. Donate - Below is a donation button where you can donate money towards her medical expenses. You don't need a paypal account to use it - it will accept credit card numbers too. Donations will be collected by Geri Weitzman (cyan_blue) and Jay Glass (brian1789), and paid directly to the medical centers on Teri’s behalf. If you wish to donate by some other means (check mailed, or cash given in person), please contact Geri at geriweitzman@gmail.com or Jay at bjay1789@gmail.com
For those who don't know Teri, Geri or Jay and wish to see some proof of Teri's medical condition before donating, please email Geri at geriweitzman@gmail.com and we can show you a copy of Teri's diagnostic paperwork.
2. Pass word along - Even if you aren’t in a place to donate, perhaps somebody else who you know is. Cross-posting this info, or a link to it, in your own blog or face book would be great.
3. Teri will likely undergo surgery within a few weeks and chemotherapy or radiation for several months thereafter. It would be useful for people to help out with things like cooking, cleaning, shopping, and child care around that time. Please contact her at 408-621-4016 to arrange this with her.
4. Reach out to her partner Scott, if you know him. Scott is a wonderful man who has been Teri’s primary emotional support during this and other hard times, and he could use company, child care, and check-ins as well.
5. Check in on Teri often - your love and care and presence will help her to feel supported in these hard times. Text messages, emails, phonecalls and visits all help. Sometimes Teri wants lots of company, other times she needs alone time and might be slower to respond to messages - but keep on checking in; the loving words are always welcomed. She can best be reached at 408-621-4016.
6. Do your own breast self-exams and mammograms regularly! Teri dearly wants the other women in her life to take preventative measures in order to insure that any cancer is caught as early as possible. 10-12 percent of women get breast cancer at some point in their lives. Many additional peoples’ lives are impacted by the breast cancer struggles of those around them.
Thanks so much,
Geri and Jay
