Cancer survivor paying it forward with spaghetti

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press

Julie Moser's world turned upside down on Oct. 3, 2013, the day she found a lump in her breast on the same morning her husband deployed to Afghanistan. Moser then began a battle with breast cancer and the cost, literally and figuratively, still effects her and her family.

In February 2014, Michele McGuire, owner of Michele's Floral and Gifts, held fundraiser to help Moser and her family with all the uncovered medical costs involved in cancer treatment, surgeries, and recovery.

For Valentine’s Day, McGuire created a “Julie Moser Loving Hearts” arrangement that cost $13, and all proceeds went directly to help with Moser’s medical bills and other expenses.

Moser never forgot McGuire's giving heart and kind gestures, and now she wants to help McGuire, who's been silently fighting her own battle for a year now, only letting family and close friends know about her severe medical condition.

In April 2014, McGuire was diagnosed with idiopathic chronic pancreatitis, along with many complications resulting from this little-known disease. After seven hospital stays in one year, more tests then she can count, and multiple doctors and specialists, physicians still don't know what exactly is causing this potentially life-altering/threatening disease.

Chronic pancreatitis affects the pancreas, which typically produces enzymes that help to digest food along with insulin to regulate blood sugar. The disease causes irreversible damage to the pancreas. Symptoms include severe pain, nausea, vomiting, poor digestion, weight loss, along with a greatly increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes and pancreatic cancer.

As a result, McGuire has been unable to work much of the time and is also facing rising medical bills that have surpassed $100,000. The self-employed mother of three sons has owned Michele's Floral and Gifts for more than 25 years, and right now her family is feeling the pinch in more ways than one.

Moser said when she was looking for a place to host the spaghetti dinner, the owner of Scratch Elevated Bistro stepped forward. Instead of having a catered affair at location like the Copperas Cove Civic Center, Moser said the owner offered to use his restaurant as a venue for the fundraiser.

The spaghetti dinner will take place at Scratch Elevated Bistro in Killeen on Thursday, April 30 from 6 p.m. until 830 p.m. The restaurant is located at 224 E. Ave. D.

Moser plans to pound the pavement in Copperas Cove, reaching out to local business owners and fellow chamber of commerce members, along with the rest of the community to help make things easier for her friend, and also to let them know about the dinner, which costs $10 per person.

She still remembers vividly the lessons learned during her own experience.

“Having cancer is a humbling experience. I appreciate the little things and small moments now, and I’ve learned to slow down. On bad days, I remind myself that I’m still here and still breathing, and that my family’s here and tomorrow is another day,” said Moser, who had a double mastectomy and has had reconstructive surgery. “I had so many, like Michele’s Floral set up a fundraising event in February 2014. I am now 1-½ years past the day they told me I have cancer. It is now my turn pay it forward and help Michele as she has been in and out of the hospital for the last year with a disease that many are unfamiliar with.”

A GoFundMe account has also been set up for McGuire at: www.GoFundMe.com/michelemcguire.

For more informaation about the spaghetti dinner, contact Julie Moser at 706-267-9260.