My name is Jenae, I am not only a friend of April's but she has taught my kids for the last 4-years and has run and operated her preschool for the last 20 years. April is a nurse practitioner by weekend and pre-school teacher by weekday. I have never seen someone so dedicated to her community and students, the love she has for them is like nothing I've ever experienced. She loves her preschool kiddos so much, she even teaches them swim lessons in her "free time". My kids look at her as family, and I forever will as well.
In July of 2022 April found a large lump in her breast as she was having some other abnormal symptoms, in September of '22 she was diagnosed with stage 3-4 Invasive Carcinoma that was in her chest wall/breast. She was immediately instructed by her medical team to begin chemo and laid out an extensive treatment process as it is a very aggressive cancer. She began chemo in November of 2022 and continued on with weekly chemo treatments until July of 2023. The idea was to do chemo to shrink the size of her tumor, then perform surgery to get most of the tumor out, unfortunately, the tumor didn't budge in size. Then more bad news hit the Valenzuela's.
In July of 2023, Aprils husband fell extremely ill and found himself in the ER. After running many tests, it was conclusive that Michael has nueroendocrine pancreatic tumors with Mets to his liver. Although he was stable, he will need to receive shots that cost $3,000 on a monthly basis for the rest of his life. Due to this, April had to put her own care on the back-burner as they have six young, beautiful children (ranging ages 12-20) that need them.
April had surgery in August 2023 to remove her tumor, but unfortunately she received a devastating update that her cancer has spread more. It is now in her lungs, bones and lymph nodes. The treatment plan now is 6-months of more chemo followed by 6-weeks of daily radiation.
I am pleading as a friend who loves April so much, for a community to surround her. Money won't fix all their problems, but I firmly believe that money should be the last thing they have to stress about as they navigate something no family should have to go through. April has served others selflessly her entire life, its what keeps her going. Through all this, she has continued teaching (without raising tuition for school), shown up for her kids at all their school and sporting events, and continues to wake up every day with a smile on her face. Words can't express what this woman means to my family, and I want to move mountains to help hers. If you feel inclined to give, I would appreciate it so much. If you are a prayer warrior, please pray hard for her and her family as they have much more of a road ahead of them. This is something no kid should have to watch their parents go through, and no parents should have to worry about.
