Welcome
to Katya the Butterfly!
This is a wellness initiative organized by me (Katya Cajas) and my family through Cajas Creative, LLC to resulting from her Papillary Thyroid Cancer diagnosis. The main goal at the moment is to fundraise to help cover medical expenses and ongoing care after surgery, while also raising awareness and spreading a little kindness.
There are no other fundraisers in place, just this website I created. Below is a list of social media accounts associated with this initiative. If you didn’t learn it from this website or the socials listed, don’t trust it. I don’t want any good people getting scammed. Thank you!
Hi friends!
First of all, let me thank you for stopping by to learn more about what’s going on. Being in a position where I have to ask for help feels awkward to me, but I’m learning and very grateful nonetheless. At the moment, the financial strain is starting to make an impact on my pocket. I like to earn my money, but donations would be the best help in the next couple of weeks. Either way, I’ve listed a few ways to help me and my family go through this process. If you have my phone number and wish to Zelle me or do Apple Cash, that’s ok too. The donation link provided is set up via Square Up.
If you want to know more about my diagnosis and how they found it, feel free to read the blog. 2025 started with a car accident that totaled my car and got increasingly challenging from there, but I’m a firm believer in God and His timing.
Ways you can help
1
Buy from the Shop
(Coming Soon)
2
Book a Service
(limited services, starting in November)
3
Make a Donation
(Thank you!)
General Questions
What is Katya the Butterfly Wellness Initiative?
It’s a fundraiser. Its first goal is to help ease the cost of care before and after thyroid removal surgery. It’s a bit of a road ahead with doctor check-ups and lifelong medicine for hormone replacement. While it is a diagnosis that doesn’t compare to other cancers, the initial cost has come at a challenging time. Long term, I hope to use this initiative to continue to raise awareness and help others through similar journeys.
Is it a non-profit?
It is not. Currently, it is focused on helping me (Katya) and my family raise money to cover the initial costs and the recovery process. Currently, it is managed by Cajas Creative, LLC, Katya’s creative business. The initiative intends to fundraise through donations, merch sales, and services as listed on cajascreative.com
I wanted to have a separate website from my portfolio and business venture so that Katya the butterfly can shine on it’s own and encourage others through their journeys. I have big plans with this initiative after recovery, and it’s keeping me positive and fueled. Since I’m a designer and have the skills, I spent some time designing the brand and building the website. You know me!
Why a Butterfly?
Well, for those that don’t know. My personal brand for my design portfolio has been a pink butterfly with two dots, one on each side, since the year I graduated from college. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped organ at the base of the neck. To add to the coincidence, the imaging showed two nodules on the thyroid just like my portfolio logo, and thyroid cancer colors use pink, teal, and purple. So naturally, Katya the Butterfly was a good transition into a wellness initiative to narrate the journey and hopefully educate the public about the disease.
What is Cajas Creative, LLC?
Cajas Creative, LLC is a business I started back in 2017 to manage any freelance work that comes her way. Today, I’m able to launch Katya the Butterfly Wellness Initiative through it as a way to raise funds through donations, goods, and services, but also to raise awareness of this slow-growing disease that creeps out of nowhere. In the future, I hope to run a shop and fundraise to help others ease the financial strain a cancer diagnosis, big or small, can have on a person and their family. So come back often and follow @katyathebutterfly to stay updated and learn a thing or two.
How did Katya get diagnosed?
In August 28, 2025, I went to the ER due to hip and leg pain, which turned out to be a blood clot (DVT), and the care team did a CT scan of my chest to check for clots, but it was clear. However, they saw 2 nodules in my thyroid and advised me to follow up with my doctor about them. That led to an ultrasound and a few biopsies, which confirmed the Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma diagnosis. There are two tumors, one is about the size of a penny in the bridge of the thyroid, and the other is about 1.5in on the left of it. The lymph nodes near the large tumor also tested positive for cancer, but the prognosis is still good, and expecting a full recovery. Doctors are positive that this will not take me down. You can read the full story in the blog.
How serious is it?
All cancers should be taken seriously. The doctors explained that papillary thyroid cancer is fairly common and a fairly common surgical procedure. They expect good results even if it spreads to nearby lymph nodes. In my case, it has spread to lymph nodes on the left side, which is where the large tumor is. Any time there’s spread, it’s alarming but doctors are doing a good job at keeping me calm. I was diagnosed on September 23, 2025 and surgery is happening less than a month from it. You can read more details in the blog.
Is it treatable?
Yes. The treatment for Papillary Thyroid Cancer is surgery to remove the thyroid, partially or completely. In my case, the large tumor on the left, which is about 1.5in, spread to nearby lymph nodes, so my only option is to remove the entire thyroid and be on lifelong medication to replace hormones that the thyroid would otherwise produce. It might also involve radioactive iodine therapy (RAI) to destroy cancer cells and prevent their spread. I’ll know more about this after surgery.
Who can get it?
The doctors don’t know why it happens, and while anyone can get it, it is more likely to occur in females. They asked me if I had been exposed to radiation (such as chemo or working somewhere with long-term exposure) or/and if there was a family history of thyroid disease. You can learn more about it here: Thyroid Cancer Mayo Clinic
Katya the Butterfly’s Journey!
Blog coming soon
Don’t get scammed!
This is my only website raising funds using .com for the domain name. You can find the initiative on Instagram and Facebook just know I’m working through it to add informative content. I don’t want to manage all the social platforms, so if it’s not an account listed here, please ignore it. Katya the Butterfly Wellness Initiative is using the following accounts for Instagram and Facebook:
- @katyacajas: private account (Instagram & Facebook)
- @katyathebutterfly: Instagram and Facebook (page)
- @katyalamariposa: Instagram and Facebook (page)