By Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
When Amber Bond began feeling a swollen knot in her leg a year ago, she didn’t think much of it. The assistant manager at Fred’s Market in Lakeland kept working for nine months before going to see a doctor.
At first, the doctors suspected a pinched lymph node had swollen. Without insurance, Bond began saving up and paying out of pocket to go to a doctor who could refer her to a surgeon.
Bond worked until a week before her first surgery.
“I was expecting to heal and go back, but things got kind of crazy,” Bond said. “It’s been a roller coaster.”
Bond was misdiagnosed again before her surgery. Doctors thought it was a rare histiocystic sarcoma. The first thing they ruled out was melanoma, because of Bond’s fair and flawless skin. But a biopsy revealed stage-three melanoma.
“It was frustrating, because you never really think it’s going to happen to you,” Bond said. “I was shocked.”
Shortly after her first surgery, infection spread, and more lymph nodes in her leg began to swell. Bond found herself back on the operating table after an emergency trip by ambulance.
“It was life-changing,” Bond said. “Everything runs through your head, everything you’ve worked for you don’t want to lose.”
Bond still did not have health insurance to help pay the hefty costs of her medical bills. That’s when the employees at Fred’s Market stepped in to help their longtime co-worker. They put collection cans and flyers at the cash register of each restaurant asking for donations for Bond.
“She’s really a super, super individual,” Linda Londberg, manager at Johnson Barbecue in Plant City, said. “That’s why we’re doing this for her.”
The employees from the four Fred’s Market Restaurants in Plant City, Bartow, Winter Haven and Lakeland and Johnson Barbecue in Plant City then went even further than collection cans. About three weekends ago, the restaurants had a bake sale that raised $6,000 for Bond.
“Everyone chipped in and came together,” Ron Britt, manager at Fred’s Market Restaurant in Lakeland, said.
“It’s a great company,” Bond said. “It’s like family. They treat their employees like family.”
Bond is a well known face around Fred’s Market Restaurant in Lakeland. She has worked for the restaurant under Britt for seven years. She started as a cashier and hostess and worked her way up the ranks to assistant manager before taking a leave of absence to get her surgeries.
“I’m a work-a-holic,” Bond said. “I didn’t want to leave. I hate not working.”
Employees have visited Bond in the hospital, some come to her apartment and help her clean, and Britt talks to her once a week and always checks up with her after doctors appointments.
And it’s not just the employees who miss seeing Bond at the restaurant.
Customers constantly inquire about Bond and some have even bedazzled a purple walker for her which she used occasionally after her surgeries.
“I’m lucky to have these people supporting me,” Bond said.
Bond is starting radiation within the next week, which she will endure every day for four weeks. Then, it’s on to chemotherapy.
“I’ll go to chemo or radiation, but I don’t want any more surgeries,” Bond said. “They are horrible.”
In addition to the support from employees and friends, the 27-year-old’s family has been by her side every step of the way. Her mother attends every hospital trip, and Bond’s twin brother moved from Melbourne to be close to her.
“I used to think I had a dull life — work and go home, work and go home,” Bond said. “But now, I realize how much life means. You just have to look at the good things and learn from the experience and believe everything happens for a reason.”
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.cheat2014
