“Valentina”

The Leigh Sakoda Foundation celebrated Thanksgiving by making a very important grant to a 34 year old woman who has had very few breaks in her treatment since initially being diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a very rare form of sarcoma. She travels six hours from her out-of-state home to a specialized hospital for five days of infusion every three weeks, and has additionally undergone surgery for a complete resection of her localized disease. Unfortunately, her cancer has metastasized and she fights the disease with relatively continuous treatment. She has considerable co-pays and deductibles related to her treatment, and struggles to pay her bills.