PAULINA — Friends and family are rallying around a young woman, Nicole Entremont of Paulina, in her battle against stage four inflammatory breast cancer.

An event to raise money to help pay her medical expenses begins at 9 a.m. Sunday at Longview Park, located at 32232 Transco Lane in Paulina.

Nicole is the 33-year-old daughter of Gwen and Glynn Entremont and the mother of two children, ages 2 and 8. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February.

“It’s a fast-growing cancer,” Gwen said. “She didn’t even know she had it until February. She never had a lump. Nicole had leakage from her nipple, which doctors thought was an infection and were treating her for that. Then a biopsy showed it wasn’t an infection but stage four breast cancer.”

Currently, Nicole is undergoing chemo; she just recently finished her eighth session.

“She is supposed to have 12, then radiation after that, then we’ll see from there what else she needs,” Gwen said.

As a parent of a child battling cancer, Gwen says it’s devastating.

“You wish you could help her more and take away her pain,” she said. “It’s really hard. We’re going to get through it. We have faith and belief in God, and I know He’ll get us all through it.”

One of Nicole’s childhood friends, Laurie Lasseigne, is helping put the Sunday fundraiser together. Lasseigne and Nicole have been friends since seventh grade, when they both attended Riverside Academy.

“I was actually with her when she found out she was stage four, and the doctors gave her two to five years,” Lasseigne said. “Five percent of people diagnosed with breast cancer will have inflammatory. Within six months, you can be stage four.”

Chemo, which Nicole is receiving from Ochsner, is working. The cancer, which had spread to Nicole’s liver, is gone, according to Lasseigne.

“The last time she went in, the doctors said it was shrinking,” Lasseigne said. “They are trying to shrink it enough so they could possibly do surgery, removing both her breast and the lymph nodes and try to put her in radiation.”

While she is receiving chemo from Ochsner, Nicole also has a panel of doctors working with her at M.D. Anderson in Texas.

The fundraiser Sunday will help pay for her expenses. According to Lasseigne, Nicole has Medicaid and Medicare, but her Medicare doesn’t work for Texas because she doesn’t live there.

At the fundraiser on Sunday, guests will enjoy jambalaya, pastalaya, hamburgers, hotdogs and sweets.

The day will start with a mixed cabbage ball tournament at 9 a.m.; the price is $150 per team.

Starting at 5 p.m. there will be a Chefs Choice Cook Off, and a sampler plate with a choice of four entrees can be purchased for $10.

Throughout the day there will be live entertainment from Katy Roussel from noon to 1 p.m., Destiny Band from 1 to 3 p.m. and Shot Time from 5 to 8 p.m.

For those wishing to fish, guests could also participate in the fishing tournament at Adam’s Landing, its $110 a boat for two-man teams.

There will also be a washer board tournament at 3 p.m., followed by a live auction from 4 to 5.

T-shirts will be sold for $20, and a spacewalk will be available for kids. An all-day pass is $3.

Gwen said she was thankful for all the support they have received, and she encourages everyone to come out this Sunday.

For more information, call 504-578-1731 or 225-206-4153.

— By Raquel Derganz Baker