ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A community fundraiser is scheduled for April 18 to support Tonya Austin, a woman battling a rare form of neck and nose cancer. The event will be held at Time After Time Consignment to assist with medical bills following multiple recurrences of the disease.
Austin suffers from nasal pharyngeal cancer, a rare condition diagnosed in approximately one out of every 100,000 people. Since her initial diagnosis in 2021, the cancer has reappeared three times in four years, requiring extensive treatments including chemotherapy and radiation. The fundraiser was organized by Jenny Dagostin through her Petals for a Purpose initiative.
Austin first noticed symptoms that mimicked seasonal allergies before a medical examination revealed the severity of her condition. Tonya Austin described the physical discovery of the cancer. “It kind of feels like allergies, sinus stuff, and then we’re going to do a CT ultrasound, and seeing that my lymph node was really swollen, it blew up, kind of like a softball sticking on my neck,” Austin said…