Who We Are - Celtic Fairies Cancer Foundation
Our Mission Statement
Our mission is to gift joy and happiness, to adult and child cancer patients and their families, during a stressful time.
Our Approach
At Celtic Fairies Cancer Foundation, we believe that all cancer patients should be given opportunities for support, especially while they are in the hospital, regardless of their cancer diagnosis.
Our Impact
We plan to gift patients and their families with gift cards for food or gas, as well as gift the children patients with tote bags of items to lift their spirits. These items will include a teddy bear, crayons, coloring books, etc.
Our Story
In March of 2023, our founder, Erin (me), was diagnosed with Ph+ B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Two weeks before my 45th birthday.
This is typically a childhood blood cancer, however it is possible for adults to get. I found this out the hard way.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY is my montra now. When I got diagnosed, I first thought I was just exhausted. The typical closing in to the end of the school year, teacher tired.
March 28th, I was trying to get two dogs into my car to go to the vet and then a doctors appointment for myself. It took every ounce of energy I could possibly muster to just get the dogs in the car. Then I realized I was seeing "sparkles" and my lower abdomen hurt. So instead of going to the doctor, I went straight to the ER because I knew something was very wrong.
After a million tests and a parade of doctors, the admitted me. The next morning came the official diagnosis and a transfer to UNC Cancer Hospital.
Luckily, my body responded well to the treatments and I've been in remission since October 2023. There are still monthly chemo treatments until October 2025. Due to my roller coaster immune system, I can't return to teaching until it is stable. Until then, I'm doing all I can to be able to give back to the people who saved my life (and many others every day). The biggest focus is to help those patients and their families as much as I can. Not everyone is as blessed as I have been, to be able to afford the gas to get to/from appointments or for my husband to eat while visiting me, while I was an inpatient.
**The full story, as well as many tips and tricks I've learned in my journey, can be found in my book. As soon as it is published and ready for sale, I will post the link on here and all socials.