Hello, My name is Brittaney Lehman, 27, and I live in Rochester, MN. I have a few good and definitely not so good relationships with cancer. My reasoning for contacting American Cancer Society is a long story. I lost a very close cousin, Kaylee Smith, on February 7, 2015 due to cancer. She was so young, not quite 24 yet. Man, did it make me angry. She on the other hand was strong, courageous and even though in a lot of pain, happy. She was a new mother when she found out she had cancer. In 2013 she went into labor and had an emergency c-section. That’s when they discovered the tumor. From then on, she had surgery and treatments. Kaylee’s treatments made her lose her hair but that girl can pull it off!! Kaylee was SO beautiful. I remember the call I got from her letting me know how her last appointment went. She was in remission! Praise God! She was home and doing well. Bad news soon came. Getting a call in the winter close to Christmas wasn’t the news I wanted to hear. She had a routine checkup to make sure her levels were normal. Stupid Cancer came back and was fighting hard. Different approach’s were talked about, more aggressive treatments and most likely a longer hospital stay. Kaylee fought and fought. Things were harder but her spirits were still up. We lost our grandmother due to a stroke in January 2015, which confused her a lot. Asking if it was just a dream or real. That’s when my pain started to get worse. How could this happen to such a young girl. She’s in her early 20’s. The anger built. I couldn’t understand or wrap my head around it. SOMEBODY FIX HER. Finally early February, seeing her quite a bit and helping in anyway I could helps me understand that God doesn’t want this for anyone. It’s an evil thing but we need to trust in Him. I know Kaylee is up there with him pain free, happy and still the amazing lady she was here in earth. He is protecting her and she will never feel another illness or pain EVER again. She was amazing granddaughter, daughter, sister, cousin, friend, niece, and an even better mother herself. Kaylee always had said, “Never underestimate the difference you can make in the lives of others. Step forward, reach out and help in my memory”. I need to honor that for Kaylee. She would be there doing that. So, my husband and I run a stand selling strawberry and lemon shake ups for Thursday’s on First and Third in Rochester, MN. We want to get a fundraiser going which happens to fall on her birthday, July 5, 2018. We would like to donate any extra money to Riley for Life for buying a special purple cups. Our stand is open from 11 AM-8:30 PM. Our goal is $1000. Please come visit if you can! We are the stand with the big lemon sitting out front with signs saying “Ahh, that’s fresh!” Thank you, Brittaney
