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Hyson is battling an aggressive form of breast cancer and a buildup of fluid in her arm that leaves her perpetually cold.

‘‘My arm is literally a heavy ice stone,” Tammy Hyson wrote in her Caring Bridge journal. ‘‘It is excruciating. Trying to exercise it does help some.”

The 39-year-old Damascus resident hopes to check into the Cancer Treatment Centers of America’s eastern regional hospital in Philadelphia this week, but her insurance company has denied payment.

She is confident she will get the care necessary to restore her health there. So her husband, Leroy, is doing all he can to raise the money needed for admission.

Leroy Hyson teaches fourth grade at Flower Hill Elementary School in Gaithersburg and also records and performs children’s music. His friend, performer Billy B., is planning a benefit concert for Tammy Hyson in the Flower Hill community March 30.

Last week, Tammy Hyson was featured on WKYS FM93 radio and donations have started pouring in.

The Cancer Treatment Center requires uninsured patients to pay $125,000 up front for evaluation and admission. Treatment follows, at which point patients have to demonstrate a financial reserve of $250,000 to cover treatment expenses as they arise.

‘‘We ourselves are able to pay $40,000,” Tammy Hyson wrote in her journal.

Donations are coming in at an average rate of $3,000 a day, she wrote in her journal Monday. Donations are coming in from people they have not seen in 20 years and from strangers who have been in similar situations, Leroy Hyson said.

Neighbors and members of their church, The Church of the Redeemer in Gaithersburg, also offer non-financial support for the family. They bring the family dinners, shovel the snow and do other chores without being asked, Leroy Hyson said. The Flower Hill family has also given money and moral support, he said.

‘‘We have been trying to explain to our children the exceptional nature of this level of support from our community to help them to understand God’s exceptional love and calling on each of our lives,” Tammy Hyson wrote in her journal Monday. ‘‘They understand they are well-loved. Beyond that, I imagine God will reveal His purpose in His own time.”

Tammy Hyson punctuated her conversation Friday with a girlish giggle. She has faith in her chosen treatment plan and that everything will work out well.

‘‘There is absolutely no room for fear or anxiety,” she wrote in her journal.

The Hysons hope once treatment begins insurance will agree to pay. They are continuing to appeal the company’s decision, but they do not have time to wait for the denial to be reversed.

Tammy Hyson was first diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2005.

She initially followed a standard course of treatment, undergoing chemotherapy in preparation for surgery.

During that time Tammy Hyson went on leave from her job with the City of Gaithersburg at the Arts Barn and concentrated on researching her disease and her treatment options. She interviewed other women diagnosed with cancer.

‘‘After meeting with them I was upset with how women with breast cancer were treated,” she said.

One medical treatment leads to another and the majority of medical treatments are toxic, she said.

Tammy Hyson opted to stop chemotherapy after two rounds and begin holistic treatment. She followed a careful diet to cleanse her body of impurities.

‘‘With the holistic route it’s important to be stress-free and I was just the opposite,” she said. ‘‘I never got to the point I was getting better, just managing, never overcoming the disease.”

Tammy Hyson tried the drug Herceptin, which has been shown effective in treating her form of breast cancer, but it did not work for her.

She is willing to place her trust in the Cancer Treatment Centers.

‘‘CTC has been very successful in treating cancer at all stages,” she said.

Her doctors at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and Shady Grove Adventist Hospital sent the insurance company letters stating they recommend she seek treatment at the Cancer Treatment Centers.

Books about cancer and healing are stacked on the desk in her makeshift first-floor bedroom, next to her laptop computer.

‘‘The bottom line is doing what your heart of hearts tells you is right for you individually,” she said.

The Cancer Treatment Centers of America offers a patient-centered approach that combines standard treatment with a holistic approach, Tammy Hyson said. Specialists in every field will coordinate her care.

‘‘Cancer is so personalized,” she said. ‘‘It’s not just a physical condition — it’s a spiritual and emotional condition.”

A lot has to do with how confident the patient feels in the quality of care, she said.

‘‘The bottom line is I’m confident the body is well able to heal itself,” Tammy Hyson said.

Just before Christmas, Tammy Hyson developed pneumonia and was hospitalized. When she was discharged from the hospital she moved into a first-floor bedroom members of her church made for her out of an unheated room behind the kitchen. She sleeps in a hospital bed and her husband sleeps on an air mattress on the floor.

‘‘He’s my best friend, my partner,” she said.

To help

To make a donation to help Tammy Hyson’s medical treatments, go to any Bank of America branch and ask for the Tammy Hyson Healing Fund.

For more information, view her journal at www.caringbridge.org⁄visit⁄tammyhyson.