Cathy moved to the United States from China with her husband Olen in July, 2009. She had always wanted to be a doctor or nurse but was assigned the major of HVAC engineering when she went to college in Taiyuan. As soon as she arrived in America, she began taking prerequisites for nursing school while Olen taught high school math.
In March of 2010, at the age of just 27, she discovered that she had breast cancer. She began receiving treatment, but her insurance company left most of the costs uncovered. As a new green card holder, she didn’t qualify for Medicaid or other government programs. Her family and friends put together the Stand with Cathy benefit concert to raise money to ensure that she got the treatment she needed.
The Stand with Cathy fundraising campaign raised over $65,000 to help pay for her treatment. Cathy underwent six months of chemotherapy, surgery, and over six weeks of radiation therapy. Her last treatment was on December 30, 2010. She has since graduated from the University of Texas School of Nursing in Houston and is now a practicing RN.
For more information about Cathy’s remarkable story and to make a contribution to the fight against breast cancer, please consider purchasing a copy of the book Stand with Cathy.
Stand with Cathy 