Garage and Bake Sale Set to Raise Funds for Trina Coy

Family, friends, and supporters of Antioch resident Trina Coy are set to have a bake and garage sale this weekend on her behalf as they hope to raise funds in her fight against cancer.

Coy has been fighting for her life for 2-1/2 years so she can be a mom who can be there for her children, Kevin (19), Brandon (9), and Karina (6).

The reality is Coy probably should not be alive right now after a misdiagnosis delayed treatment.

In 2008, Coy felt a lump in her breasts, but Kaiser doctors dismissed it as a clogged milk duct and prescribed birth control pills to control other systems.  Two years later, when a second lump appeared, doctors discovered she had breast cancer. To make matters worse, Coy was diagnosed with the second most aggressive breast cancer and was given a 4% chance of being alive after five years.

Coy looked to gain access to treatment outside Kaiser, but the HMO refused. Since that time, the Coy family had turned to fundraising efforts to help pay bills and had a series of events.

As he fundraising continued, her prognosis continued to worsen.

In July, doctors discovered that Coy’s cancer had already spread from her breasts to her lymph nodes, brain, and bones, has now spread to her liver and lungs. Coy doesn’t yet have a prognosis.

In March, when doctors found 21 tumors in her brain, she was told that people with that many tumors generally have three to six months to live. Fortunately for Coy, one of  doctors had just read that Washington Hospital was performing gamma knife radiation on multiple brain tumors.

After trying the treatment, she has responded well to these treatments, and may not need another round. The cancer in her lymph nodes has disappeared, but doctors are still working on the cancer in her bones.

Now, she has cancer in her liver and lungs.

Coy says she was “scared to death” to find out about the cancer. At the time, she thought “it’s all over.”

But she’s healthier than she really should be and has defied expectations, which she attributes to alternative therapies. Coy spent eight months at the Oasis of Healing center in Mesa, AZ. One week of treatment cost $8,000. So far, the family has spent about $150,000 out of pocket. That doesn’t include what was covered by previous fundraising and donations.

At this time, one of Coy’s doctors is recommending a treatment in Thailand, which costs about $30,000—money they don’t have had this time.

Still, Coy vows to continue the treatments she’s been getting and continue alternative therapies as long as they provide her quality of life. Currently, she’s looking into clinical trials, which may require more travel. She is also trying a drug that is new to the market.

All of these drugs and treatments come with large co-pays.

Coy says, “Cancer sucks. It’s not fun. But there are times when I feel luckier than the average person, because of the things I’ve seen and the people in my life,” said Coy.

You can do your part by showing up to the three day sale with proceeds going to Fight for Trina.

Event Details

• What: Fight for Trina Garage Sale and Bake Sale Fundraiser
• When: Labor Day Weekend. Friday, 8/30 8 a.m. – noon and Saturday, 8/31 8 a.m. – noon
• Where: 2110 Fuente Ct., Antioch

If you have donations for the sale, they can be dropped off at the above address on  August 25. For more information, please contact Nicole at [email protected]. You can follow Trina’s blog at www.fightfortrina.com or on her Facebook: Fight For Trina

Donate to Fight For Trina Medical Fund,
If you want to make a donation, you can do so through Wells Fargo:

• 1. Inside a Wells Fargo branch, you can ask to make a donation to the Fight For Trina Medical Fund.
• 2. Send a check made out to  the Fight For Trina Medical Fund to 2601 Somersville Rd., Antioch, CA, 94509.
• You can also make a credit card donation at http://www.gofundme.com/FightforTrina