Clovis Helping One Woman honors Valley cat rescuer
CLOVIS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Wednesday was a special night to help a special woman who has saved thousands of lives in the Central Valley.
Tammy Barker, Assistant Director of The Cat House on the Kings, has been honored after volunteering her time helping to improve the lives of valley cats and kittens.
According to officials with Helping One Woman, Clovis Chapter, Barker called her daughter, complaining of debilitating shortness of breath. She was taken to the CRMC ER, where a scan showed her left lung was non-functional and full of fluid. She had 1.5 liters of fluid drained from her lung, with a subsequent scan showing a nodule where the fluid had been. After countless procedures, she was diagnosed with stage four metastatic non-small cell adenocarcinoma (lung cancer).
Since leaving the hospital, officials say Tammy found out cancer has spread to the lining of her lung, the lymph nodes in her chest, and the lymph nodes in her neck. She began chemotherapy on Feb. 15, and the days following it were difficult for her, making her struggle to complete even small tasks.
Tammy learned she is eligible for targeted gene therapy, which officials say will hopefully put chemotherapy on the back burner for some time.
“It’s great to have so much support from my friends family and coworkers, it’s pretty amazing I never expected to have this many people come to support my cancer journey,” said Barker. “Cancer is not an easy journey so I appreciate all the love and support I get from my family and all the other women who are going through the same treatment that I am going through.”
The dinner to support her was held on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the northwest corner of Willow and Nees Avenues at The Point in Fresno.
Helping One Woman is a non-profit organization that helps one woman each month who is going through a difficult time. The money raised from the dinners and auctions will go directly to the recipients.
