#OperationLayla

I have someone I want you to meet.
Her name is Layla and she's funny, sweet, sarcastic, caring, strong and ten times more courageous than I am.

(Please do not use this photo without permission from Layla)

I have to tell you that I've never personally met Layla but still consider her one of my closest friends. I started following her blog last year when I began mine and then started chatting with her on Twitter daily. We seemed to click, as she does with most people, and have talked every day since then. This might not make sense to some of you that read my blog who know me in real life, but just trust me, this girl is a rockstar. 

If you don't know Layla's story, please take a few minutes to read:

One month after her 30th birthday, Layla was diagnosed with early stage cervical cancer (1A Adenocarcinoma). She was extraordinarily lucky that it was caught early, and had a simple surgery to remove the cancerous cells.

Three years later, Layla was in horrible pain that affected nearly every aspect of her life. Temporarily uninsured due to a job change, she paid out of pocket last October to go to the doctor and make sure the cancer had not returned. Thankfully, it had not. However, her doctor believes that she has pelvic adhesions and Endometriosis due to the previous surgery, but it can’t be diagnosed until an additional surgery (laparoscopy) is performed. The doctor also found out Layla has cervical stenosis, which basically means her cervix has completely shut down due to the scar tissue from the previous surgery. These issues make her miserable most of the time, making simple things like going to the bathroom and menstruation horribly painful, and sexual intercourse impossible. He stated that if she wanted to have children one day, even sperm could not pass through her cervix, and she would have to have intrauterine insemination.

The doctor wanted to schedule surgery as soon as the insurance at her new job went into effect. Her company fired her the day her insurance became valid, ten days before Christmas, plainly stating that it was because of her health issues.

Fortunately, she got on her husband’s insurance, which went into effect February 1st. As soon as she could, Layla scheduled surgery for March 22nd. Then her insurance company dropped a bomb: because she went to the doctor (even as a self-pay patient) within a three month period prior to her enrollment date, they were considering her health issues to be a pre-existing condition, and would not insure any doctor visits, medication, or surgery for 388 days.

When you are in near constant pain and can’t work, 388 days is a long time to wait. The sooner Layla can have this surgery, the sooner she can return to work (hopefully with a nicer company!) and start living her life again. Her doctor has been nice enough to work out a deal with her if she can pay as a cash patient: he decreased the amount of her surgery to $4,000, and the cost of the anesthesia to $500, with additional fees for biopsies of removed tissue to be determined.

The problem is, Layla is unemployed due to this, has used her savings to pay for living expenses and medical bills, and has been denied loans for the surgery because of her unemployment status. She does not have close family, so she can’t ask them for help. Surgery is scheduled for March 22nd, and Layla and her husband are still trying to secure a loan through several banks.

This is where Operation Layla came into play. A few of us blog/twitter friends got together and asked her what we could do to help so we tagged our efforts with the hashtag #operationlayla on twitter and it has snowballed from there.

Want to know what you can do?

• Keep up with the Operation Layla blog, follow on Twitter, and RT Layla’s story using the hashtag #OperationLayla
• Stay tuned for an online bake sale! It's in the works and will be showcased on Monday at the Operation Layla Blog!
• Keep posted here on my blog! All those who donate will be eligible to win a Coach wristlet as well as a $25 gift card to Sephora either this weekend or Monday. ;)
• Every little bit is appreciated and helps ease the burden of medical expenses for Layla.
  You can donate though the button on my sidebar or by visiting the Operation Layla blog here. Soon to become OperationLayla.org!
  
  

Help get our girl the surgery needs so we can have a healthy and happy friend.

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We started Operation Layla a mere 36 hours ago and as of now, have already raised a mind blowing  $1700.
--- UPDATE ---
It's 3:39 EST and we are at $2750!!! Let's keep this going!
--UPDATE--
It's 8:45PM EST and I'm bawling into my computer. We did it.
Operation Layla is at $4300 and counting. We did this in less than TWO days y'all.
 We changed Layla's life today and we couldn't have done it without our readers. If you didn't believe in social media before, you better believe the power of it now!

I'm completely speechless and amazed at the generosity of bloggers. Layla deserves every single penny and has decided that if we exceed the goal of $4000 - the remaining amount will be donated to tsunami and earthquake aid. 

Operation Layla has already been featured on several blogs and we want to spread the word as quickly as possible. Just today, Weddingbee did a post on it!

HELP OPERATION LAYLA MEET IT'S GOAL!
DONATE NOW!