In Support of Sara and the Johney Family
Help Support Sara and the Johney Family in the Next Chapter of Her Fight Against Cervical Cancer
In 2019, at just 31 years old, Sara was diagnosed with Stage 1A1 cervical cancer. She received this news despite never missing a pap smear nor missing a well woman exam. After a CONE/LEEP procedure, she was considered cancer free with only a 5% chance of the cancer returning.
After having her daughter, Charlotte, her cancer returned, and she was restaged to Stage 3C1 in 2022. Since then, Sara's fight has never stopped and she has faced more than she ever imagined—numerous surgeries, radiation, brachytherapy, and chemotherapy. Through it all, she has continued to fight while trying to be a wife, a mom, a Physician Associate, and simply live her life.
Even after a 15-hour surgery with the Mayo Clinic in 2023, Sara's cancer has now spread to her pelvic bone and sacral nerves. She is technically Stage 4A and struggles with walking everyday.
Sara completed chemotherapy for the third time in March 2026, but she now needs additional treatment. Thankfully, she has been accepted into a clinical trial with Yale that gives her another opportunity to fight this cancer. She is incredibly grateful for this chance and hopeful for what it may bring.
While this clinical trial offers hope, it also brings significant logistical and financial challenges for Sara and her family.
Her treatment schedule will require her to travel by train to New Haven, CT and stay away from home on a two-weeks-on, one-week-off schedule. This means many Amtrak trips, hotel stays, rides to and from appointments, meals away from home, and, perhaps hardest of all, time away from the people she loves most.
While Sara is away receiving treatment, Dave will be home caring for Charlotte and keeping life going for their family.
Over the years, the “hidden costs” of cancer have become a very real financial burden for their family. The expenses that come with treatment don’t stop at the hospital or doctor’s office. There are travel costs, lodging, meals, transportation, time away from work, and countless other everyday expenses that add up quickly.
If you would like to help Sara and her family through this next chapter, any support would mean more to them than they can put into words. Donations will help ease some of the financial burden that comes with traveling for treatment and being away from home.
If you would prefer to give in another way, Amtrak gift cards, Hilton points, or Lyft gift cards would be incredibly helpful.
After everything she and her family have been through, Sara is not ready to give up. She is prepared to keep fighting, keep showing up, and keep doing everything she can to be here for her family.
Their family knows that they cannot walk this journey alone, and they are incredibly grateful for every person who chooses to stand beside them.
Thank you for taking the time to read Sara’s story. Thank you for sharing this fundraiser, praying for their family, offering encouragement, or helping in any way you can. Every donation, gift card, hotel point, meal, message, and act of kindness makes this journey a little less overwhelming.
Thank you for helping Sara, Dave, and Charlotte through this next chapter. ❤️
For more information about Sara’s cancer journey, please visit: https://cervivor.org/stories/sara-j/
For more information about Sara’s cancer journey, please visit: https://cervivor.org/stories/sara-j/
Updates
Keep up to date as needs change.
Oct 30, 2026
✨Cycle #2✨
Well we made it to the second cycle! My mom accompanied me to Yale ...
Oct 19, 2026
What a week....
This past week was a lot tougher than I expected. I was looking for...
Oct 07, 2026
⚕️💊 Clinical Trial Infusion #2 💊⚕️
This week at Yale, I was accompanied by my best friend Kathryn Stad...
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