Hillsborough Mom's Cancer Fight Prompts Call For Community Support

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Michelle Albanese, a Hillsborough mother of two and health coach, has always taken great care of her body. But over the last year, she was fighting fatigue and she knew something was off.

Albanese said she previously had COVID and was told the fatigue could be attributed to that.

"But it wasn't like me to be so tired and then I started having gastrointestinal issues," said Albanese, who is married to Jason and has two children together. "Crazy enough I am a health coach. I really listen to my body. I eat very clean and I knew something was not right."

Albanese started doing cleanses yet nothing improved. She ended up going to the emergency room in December 2022 where they found a cyst on her ovary.

Yet the source of the cancer was found to becoming from her liver duct which was feeding bile into her stomach. She was diagnosed with a form of liver duct cancer, stage four.

She started chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments on Jan. 6. After two months, she was rescanned, and "none of it worked. The tumor doubled in size," said Albanese.

Things were progressively getting worse for Albanese.

"I couldn't move around, I couldn't go up the stairs," said Albanese. "It was getting to the point of me being completely immobile."

Albanese went to a doctor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City where they said they would try to remove the tumor.

In April, a 7-inch tumor and a 5-inch tumor were each removed from her ovary and fallopian tubes.

"I am slowly becoming more mobile," said Albanese. "Before I felt like I was 10 months pregnant. But after the surgery, I can live a little bit."

She is about 90 percent better since the surgery and a pattern of chemotherapy has resumed. However, the whole situation has taken Albanese out of work and made it difficult for her and Jason to care for their children Jonathan, who is 13 and Briana, who is 10.

Despite the setbacks, Albanese is not one to ask for help.

"I kept thinking so many other people could benefit from Steps Together. I'll be OK," said Albanese.

A friend of Albanese she used to work with submitted an application for Albanese to Steps Together, a Hillsborough-based 501(c)(3) organization that supports Somerset County families facing a medical crisis. Read More: Steps Together Celebrates 10 Years Of Helping Somerset County Families

"Steps Together the whole organization is incredible," said Albanese.

Albanese's aunt Valerie Molinaro DeNick also stepped up and organized a GoFundMe page for Albanese.

The funds will be used to cover excess medical expenses, traveling to New York for treatments, hotel expenses, genetic testing, and providing for the family's needs.

"Trying to ease the financial burden while she can focus on her healing journey," said DeNick.

"It is hard to ask for help sometimes. I am a very independent self-sufficient person. My husband is the same way. You know what? This is a time in our life when we need to lean on people and ask for help," said Albanese.

Albanese also expressed her gratitude to the entire Hillsborough community for their support.

"Hillsborough is an amazing community," said Albanese. "The people that live in this town are amazing."

For more information on Albanese or to donate visit gofundme.com/f/help-michelles-healing-journey.

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