She does not have health insurance. Please help offset/assist with medical/daily living expenses to alleviate the financial burden. This will help her focus on fighting the fight of her life!

My sister Nicole (Bradee) Hobson, age 27,  called my mom because she felt a lump in her breast. She scheduled a doctor’s appointment to have it checked out. On February 18th 2010, not one of us, doctors included, thought she would get a call saying “It is cancer.”

All I could think after hearing the news was, “I can’t believe it. She is way too young, we have no family history of breast cancer, she has two small kids a loving husband, more energy than anyone I know, she is healthy, and she is my best friend.”

Nicole returned to the doctors only to find out more bad news. Partly because Nicole is so young her cancer is an aggressive cancer, and it is invasive. She also learned that she is what they call a triple negative, which makes her cancer complicated as it limits it responsiveness to treatments. It will not respond to hormonal therapy, so her only chance of beating it is through intense chemotherapy and radiation.

On March 26th, Nicole underwent a double mastectomy, and is now half way through her chemotherapy. Following this course of treatment she will then undergo 6 weeks straight of radiation (on a daily basis). She also survived a pretty bad infection in June that put her in the hospital for 10 days and required her to go through yet another surgery.

Nicole is a strong woman. If you know her, you know she is a ball of fire! She is independent, smart, funny, and tough as nails. Even through this battle she is pursuing her Master's degree in Education. She is one tough cookie! She has the spirit to fight her cancer, but needs everyone’s help to win!

As I mentioned before, Nicole is a wife and mother. She has a wonderfully strong, supportive husband Tim and two beautiful young girls Cameron and Madison. During the course of her treatment Nicole had to stop working full-time, and they are now living off one income.

Now- why she needs your help:

Nicole does not have health insurance. About a year and a half ago, her husband was laid off due to the economy affecting his field of work. They were just on the rebound of that struggle when this hit. Currently, they are living on one income. This makes it very tough to pay for daily living expenses with all the medical bills this battle has created. They applied for financial aid at Sibley Hospital and the Board at the hospital voted and granted her 100% coverage on all things done at the hospital. This was a huge victory-but there are so many other expenses to be paid for including medications, shots, gas money to get to and from the hospital (a 2 hour drive each way), additional surgeries, and the list keeps going.

We don't know what the total expenses are going to be - but we HAD to get something started.

The costs to maintain daily living expenses while she fights this cancer are continually mounting. It is important that Nicole and her family focus all of their energy and strength on winning this battle.

We are raising money to offset/assist with these expenses. Our hope is that we alleviate that financial burden so Nicole can concentrate on getting better.

Thanks to those who have helped- with your contributions so far Nicole and Tim were able to pay for her reconstructive surgery, her genetics test, and you helped us to maintain their daily living expenses-as both of them have missed so much work already in the first month since we found out about the cancer! WE CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH. Your help so far has helped Nicole and Tim take a "deep breath" and has re-energized them to keep fighting.

All your generous contributions are deeply appreciated- anything you can give will help! ***You can also keep track of Nicole's day to day progress with her care pages website. Please go to www.carepages.com Sign up is free and then search for Team Nicole Updates. ***

Go Team Nicole!!! If you have any questions, suggestions, or just need to contact a representative for the family please call Loree Frazitta (Nicole's sister) at 703-969-2975 or email Loree at loreebradee@yahoo.com.

THANK YOU -  Nicole & Tim Hobson, Loree & Bryan Frazitta, Beau Bradee, William & Delores Bradee 

Please note: Many people have asked if they may send a donation by mail. Certainly!

Please send checks to the attention of William Bradee (Nicole's Father)

Haymarket, VA 20169

UPDATE: NICOLE HAS A CARE PAGES SITE SO YOU CAN GET UPDATES

PLEASE GO TO: WWW.CAREPAGES.COM -SET UP AN ACCOUNT FOR FREE AND LOOK FOR TEAM NICOLE UPDATES- THIS WAY YOU CAN STAY UPDATED AND SEND MESSAGES TO NICOLE!!!!