Standing with Aleasha How to Help

Standing with Aleasha

One place for updates, ways to help, upcoming events, and the incredible community standing beside her through treatment.

How to help Latest update Events Her story
Aleasha
Current treatment Chemotherapy — first stretch of five months

Her story

Before anything else, she is Aleasha

She is a daughter, a sister, a friend, a coworker. A vet tech, which is the kind of job you only take if you actually love animals and don't mind hard days. She lives with her mom and five cats who are unambiguously family rather than pets — including Ruthie Mae, who has spent this year learning to walk again.

The first half of 2026 was, by her own account, a good one. She moved in with her mama when she finally moved down, and got to celebrate her birthday with her. She rented a cabin in the mountains. She made it to the beach as a belated birthday gift to herself. She went to her first small-scale rodeo, saw the Savannah Bananas, and drove to Nashville with one of her besties to see Chase Rice and had a blast.

Then, in July, she found a lump. Six months after an annual exam where everything felt normal.

“Now this second half of my year is going to look a lot different. I got diagnosed with TNBC — triple negative breast cancer. It’s fast growing and aggressive. My team and I are moving as fast as we can to get ahead of it. So far it hasn’t spread yet and that’s truly a saving grace to know.” Aleasha, August 2026

She is clear-eyed about what's coming. She called it a long and brutal road, physically, mentally, and emotionally — and then, in the same breath, listed the people around her and said she doesn't think she could get through it without them.

“My sunrises and sunsets look different now, and I’m blessed to be able to see them. They’re much more special and beautiful.” Aleasha

This page exists so that the people who love her don't have to piece the story together from comment threads, and so that when you want to help, you know exactly what would actually help. That's it. That's the whole idea.

The road

Where she is in the journey

This timeline grows as she does. Dates for anything ahead are estimates and will shift — treatment plans always do.

  1. January 2026

    A normal annual exam

    Aleasha had her annual exam. Everything looked and felt normal.

  2. Summer 2026

    She found it herself

    Six months after that clear exam, Aleasha felt something that hadn't been there before. She pushed to get it looked at. In her own words: you need to advocate for yourself.

  3. Summer 2026

    Diagnosis

    Stage 1 triple-negative breast cancer — invasive ductal carcinoma. It's fast-growing and aggressive. It also had not spread, which changed everything about the road ahead.

  4. Summer 2026

    The plan comes together

    Her team mapped the year: five months of chemotherapy, one month off, surgery, then five more months of chemotherapy. Long, but deliberate — and moving fast on purpose.

  5. Five months, starting summer 2026

    Chemotherapy — first stretch

    Chemotherapy is the main tool against triple-negative breast cancer. This is the longest and hardest stretch of the year, and where day-to-day help matters most.

  6. One month, after chemo

    A month to rebuild

    A planned break between chemotherapy and surgery to let her body recover enough for the operation.

  7. Expected early 2027

    Surgery

    Most likely a double mastectomy with reconstruction. Details will be confirmed closer to the date.

  8. Five months, after surgery

    Chemotherapy — second stretch

    Five more months of chemotherapy following surgery, to finish the job.

  9. Ahead

    Recovery, and everything after

    The part we're all working toward. This page will still be here for it.

Treatment updates

How she's doing

Newest first. If it's been quiet here for a while, that's usually good news — it means a normal week.

The first update will appear here.

Start here

How you can help

Not every act of kindness comes with a price tag. Some people bring dinner. Some send coffee. Some cover a prescription. Some leave a note that gets read on a bad afternoon. Every one of these counts.

Give financially Helps with treatment costs, travel to appointments, and the wages she loses on treatment weeks. Venmo or PayPal → Give practically Meals, rides, errands, visits. Claim a specific day so nothing lands twice and nothing gets missed. Open the care calendar → Send a little sunshine Comfort things, coffee, a favorite snack, something for the cats. Small gestures land harder than people expect. See her favorites → Leave her a note No reply needed, and that's rather the point. A memory, a photo, a line that made you think of her. These get read on the bad days. Write something → Join a fundraiser Community events happening through treatment. Come, bring someone, or take a shift. What's coming up →

Financial support

If you'd like to give

There is no pressure here, and no guilt. Plenty of people help in ways that have nothing to do with money, and that counts just as much.

However is easiest for you
Venmo

@sw_aleasha

Open Venmo
PayPal

paypal.me/swaleasha

Open PayPal

Both go to the same place. Use whichever you already have on your phone — there's no difference at this end.

Gifts go toward treatment costs, travel to and from appointments, wages lost on treatment weeks, and keeping the household steady.

Where the money goes

Money given here goes to Aleasha — treatment costs, travel to and from appointments, the wages she loses on treatment weeks, and keeping the household running. If you ever want to know where something went, just ask. You'll get a straight answer.

🌞 No pressure, ever

Send a little sunshine

A few small things can make a hard day easier. A favorite snack, a cozy blanket, coffee, something the cats will immediately sit on. One list, kept current — these are things she's actually said she'd use.

Amazon favorites Comfort things, everyday bits, and cat supplies Coffee & gift cards Over 200 options through Give InKind Share a photo Every one is read before it goes up

Nothing here is expected. It's here so that when someone asks "what can I actually send?", there's a real answer instead of a guess.

Fundraisers

What the community is putting together

Every fundraiser gets its own card here. New ones get added as people dream them up.

Upcoming Aug 14 Date and location to be announced

Community Yard Sale

Donating items for the yard sale. 100% of proceeds go directly to Aleasha. If you're local, email us for details.

Organized by Loving Coworkers

Email about donating items
Upcoming Online

Vora Noire Gives Back

Every archive box gives back. Every membership gives back. Both together and we give even more.

Organized by Vora Noire

Upcoming Launching this October

The Pink Rebellion Collection

A limited edition box curated with love, strength, and a whole lot of heart. Launching this October.

Organized by Vora Noire

Calendar

Upcoming events

No events on the calendar just yet. Check back soon.

Encouragement

Leave her a note

Messages are read before they're posted. She doesn't have to reply to any of them — that's rather the point.

Write a message

Questions

Things people ask

Can I visit?

Often yes — but please ask first rather than dropping by. Chemotherapy suppresses the immune system, so timing matters and some weeks are harder than others. One firm rule: if you are sick, have been around someone sick, or are getting over anything at all, stay home and send a message instead. It is not rude. It is the single most protective thing you can do for her.

Can I bring meals?

Yes, and it helps more than almost anything. Check the Ways to Help section first — it lists what's actually needed right now so five people don't bring lasagna on the same Tuesday. Chemo changes how food tastes and what sits well, so preferences may shift week to week.

Can businesses sponsor or donate?

Yes. Businesses have donated raffle items, gift cards, services, and event space. Reach out using the contact email in the footer and we'll find a fit. Every business that helps gets a place in the Community Spotlight.

How often is this page updated?

As often as there's something real to say — usually around treatment days and any time the plan changes. If it's been quiet for a while, that's usually a good sign, not a bad one. No news generally means a normal week.

Should I ask her how she's doing?

Yes — but know that answering the same question thirty times a day is its own kind of exhausting. That's part of why this page exists. Check here first, then reach out with something specific: a memory, a photo, an offer to handle one concrete thing. Messages that don't need a reply are a gift.

What is triple-negative breast cancer?

It's breast cancer that tests negative for all three of the things doctors usually target: estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and the HER2 protein. Because those targets aren't there, hormone therapy and HER2 drugs don't work — which is why her plan leans so heavily on chemotherapy. There's a fuller explanation in the Understanding Her Diagnosis section.

Understanding her diagnosis

What triple-negative breast cancer is

Plain language, no jargon. Knowing roughly what she's dealing with makes it a lot easier to know how to show up.

What “triple-negative” means

Most breast cancers are fed by one of three things: estrogen, progesterone, or a protein called HER2. Doctors test for all three, because each one is a target a drug can aim at. Aleasha’s cancer tested negative for all three — that’s the “triple” in triple-negative. It isn’t a measure of severity. It’s a description of what the cancer is missing.

Why that changes the treatment

No estrogen receptor means hormone therapy won’t work. No HER2 means HER2-targeted drugs won’t either. That removes two of the usual tools and leaves chemotherapy doing the heavy lifting — which is why her plan is chemo-heavy and runs so long. TNBC accounts for roughly 10–15% of breast cancers.

Why chemo comes before surgery

Giving chemotherapy first is standard for triple-negative breast cancer. It shrinks the tumor before the operation, and it lets the care team watch how the cancer responds to the drugs in real time — information they can’t get any other way.

What she may be dealing with

  • Fatigue — the deep kind that sleep doesn’t fix
  • Nausea and appetite changes; food can taste wrong
  • Hair loss
  • A weakened immune system, which is why visits get scheduled
  • Neuropathy — tingling or numbness in hands and feet
  • Brain fog, and the emotional weight underneath all of it

What “stage 1, hasn’t spread” means

It means the cancer was caught while it was still small and still local — it had not moved to the lymph nodes or beyond. Aleasha called that knowledge a saving grace, and she’s right to. Finding it early is the single biggest thing in her favor.

How to be useful

You don’t need the right words. Specific beats sympathetic every time: offer a ride on a named day, drop a meal, take something off her plate without asking her to manage it. And if you’re sick, stay home — that’s not distance, that’s protection.

This section is general education written for friends and family, not medical advice, and it is not a description of Aleasha's specific treatment plan. Every case is different. For anything real, talk to a doctor — the American Cancer Society helpline is 1-800-227-2345, 24 hours a day.

Resources

Helpful places to start

For anyone who wants to understand more, or who is walking a similar road themselves.

American Cancer Society Treatment info, a 24/7 helpline at 1-800-227-2345, and local support programs. Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation Research and support focused specifically on TNBC. National Breast Cancer Foundation Patient navigation, education, and free support resources. CancerCare Free professional counseling, support groups, and financial assistance. Family Reach Direct financial help with the everyday costs cancer creates. Cancer Support Community Mental health support for patients and the people around them. Caregiver Action Network For the family and friends doing the caring. ACS Road To Recovery Free rides to and from treatment where volunteer drivers are available.