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Love for Liza: Wedding, outpouring of support for young woman battling terminal cancer

On Thanksgiving, Liza Haynie Heaton went to the hospital with stomach pains, only to receive news that no one can prepare for. Scans showed that a rare cancer that she had previously beaten — synovial sarcoma — had returned. Doctors said the cancer was aggressive, and there wasn't much that they could do. They gave Heaton less than a month to live."For three years there wasn't really any bad

On Thanksgiving, Liza Haynie Heaton went to the hospital with stomach pains, only to receive news that no one can prepare for. 

Scans showed that a rare cancer that she had previously beaten — synovial sarcoma — had returned. Doctors said the cancer was aggressive, and there wasn't much that they could do. They gave Heaton less than a month to live.

"For three years there wasn't really any bad news. I thought we had beat it," she said. "When it came back this time, it was such a whirlwind. You're not really ever ready for that news."

With only a few weeks to live, Heaton thought she would have to give up her dream of marrying her then-boyfriend, Wyatt Heaton. But for Wyatt, the news only solidified the fact that they should tie the knot. And so friends and family members rallied to throw the impromptu wedding, with more than 100 people traveling to the small Louisiana town of Shreveport. 

"I guess I would want everyone to know that people who have cancer... you're still living," she said."I definitely feel like I'm living with cancer, not dying with cancer."

Friends and family have also created Love for Liza, a GoFundMe page that is raising money for Liza's treatment, and for synovial sarcoma research at Johns Hopkins University. In only two days, the campaign has raised close to $300,000. 

"I can't really explain it," Liza said of the outpouring of support. "It's so comforting to know that you have unconditional love and someone who will be there for you until the very end."