Topeka woman battling 2 concurrent cancer diagnoses

TOPEKA (KSNT)- A Topeka woman is fighting a tough battle for the second time but she's not giving up, no matter how long doctors say she will live. However, for this fight, she needs your help.

At 37-years-old, Heather K. Hodges has gone through a lot in just one year.

"Went through the first round of traditional treatment and got all wrapped up in June," she said. "I was free of any visible disease then."

When she was 36, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She thought she beat it after doctors couldn't find any traces of the disease.

"I was kind of on cloud nine in June," she said "I thought for sure that I had beat cancer. If you beat it the first time, you know that's the good news. When it comes back and starts spreading that's the bad news."

But, that's what happened. The cancer wasn't gone. It traveled to another place in her body while still in the cervix.

"Unfortuantely, it had come back in October and spread to my liver," she said. "So now it's in two locations in my body."

The single mother of two faced a decision; do chemo and radiation again, or do something else.

"It [chemo] takes a toll on your body," Hodges said. "So I started to reach out and look, and see what else I could do. Found this awesome place in Nevada."

Hodges headed to Reno for treatment that isn't the "traditional" way of getting rid of cancer. Instead, the hospital focuses on alternatives. Because of this, insurance help isn't an option. So the people who love her are stepping up.

"My friends got the idea of putting together this carnival and it's the perfect thing for me. I love fun and games and all of that kind of stuff," she said.

Hodges needs thousands of dollars to complete the treatments she started to once again enjoy the things she used to do before cancer became a small but important part of her story.

"Cancer has kind of consumed my life for the past year," Hodges said. "But, you know, I try to get out and see some sunshine whenever I can."

The carnival-themed fundraiser is on March 27 at the Lake Shawnee Shelter House from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more information on tickets and other ways to donate, email heatherhodges2@gmail.com.

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