Help Sarah and Harry

Martha Michels is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Picture 1 - Sarah and her husband, granddaughter and daughters (Harry, Camilla, Sarah, Natalie, Lauren)

Hello everyone - recently my sister was diagnosed with brain cancer. I have started this campaign to help her and her family deal with mounting medical bills and loss of wages due to the inability to work. If you would like to read more about Sarah and this battle, please see below! Thank you for any support you can give.

On November 21st, 2016, my mom got a call from her son-in-law Harry. Harry and my sister Sarah were in the ER of their local hospital. My sister hadn't been feeling well and was experiencing numbness on the right side of her body. Many tests later, including an MRI of the brain, they delivered the bad news - my sister had two brain tumors. We were devastated. This is a terrible thing to be told no matter who you are or what your circumstances. For our family, however, this was extra devastating as our year had already been filled with sadness. My brother-in-law, who was married to my sister Debbie, had just passed away in February from stomach cancer. He lived ~9 months from diagnosis to death. A horrible thing for him and all of us to witness. My family has also suffered the loss of my brother, who passed away from a rare lung disease after many years of fighting and a double lung transplant. So you can see when this news reached us we were literally devastated. Dumbfounded that this DREADFUL disease had struck our family again. Dumbfounded that it targeted probably one of the healthiest members of the family. A woman who eats right, exercises and takes careful care of herself and her family. Angry, sad, frantic, sick, fearful, panic stricken - these are just a few words that describe my feelings following her diagnosis. BUT, as my wonderful family always does, we rallied together to figure out what was next. Sarah was transferred to Froedtert hospital where further tests, including an open biopsy (!) confirmed the diagnosis of primary CNS lymphoma - a very rare type of brain cancer. The great doctors and nurses at Froedtert immediately started her on various medications to reduce brain swelling and the risk of seizure. They also began to strategize the attack on this interloper that had found its way into her brain.

Throughout this entire shit-storm (pardon the profanity but this is the word we use to describe what they are going through) both Sarah and Harry have remained strong, positive, hopeful, and loving. I am so inspired by both of them, truly! Harry has been a wonderful caregiver, by my sister's side every minute. Bringing her comfort only he can bring. This means, however, he hasn't been able to be at work all the time. In fact, he missed many weeks (so far with more leave planned). FMLA has been approved for Harry but his time is not all paid. In addition, Sarah is not bringing in the income she did when working before she became ill. She was the fulltime caregiver to her granddaughter Camilla. Loss of income on top of mounting medical bills has created a situation requiring help!

This cancer is treatable. The treatments require in- patient hospital care (chemo) followed by daily radiation treatments. This treatment, while effective, is very expensive and requires care from others. Others who have to decide to either work and get paid or help their mom/sister/wife through the toughest battle she will ever face. We do NOT want Harry or Sarah (or any of our family) to spend one bit of energy worried about how bills will be paid or fear that they will “go under” – a fear my sister has expressed to me recently. We need to band together, pay it forward, and help Sarah and Harry through the storm. Please contribute. No amount is too small (or too big). This is a wonderful family who needs help. It could be any one of us, or any one we love, at any moment. One thing I have learned is life has NO guarantees.

Thank you so much for reading our story. Please share with all your friends, family, coworkers, etc. Our deepest gratitude for any help you can give.

Best Regards,

Martha Michels (on behalf of Sarah and Harry Orkowski and our entire family)

Below are pictures of my sister and our family.

This is us (and not all of us!) and we need your help.

Picture 2 - Sarah and Harry with their daughter Lauren who is a big Lucy fan and dressed as her one year for Halloween!

Picture 3 - My mom and Sarah (they are very similar, both in the way they look and act!)

Picture 4 - Sarah with her BEAUTIFUL daughters Lauren (far left) and Natalie (center) on Natalie's wedding day.

Picture 5 - Sarah and Harry with baby Camilla

Picture 6 - Sarah's sweet baby (granddaughter) when she was little younger.

Picture 7 - (From the back left) - Sarah, Debbie, Natalie, Lauren, Mom, Caitie, Martha and Emily on Martha's deck (wearing our matching t-shirts) before we left for Chicago to see Kevin James ~ 3 years ago.

Picture 8 - Sarah and her granddaughter (Natalie's daughter) Camilla (named after my mom by the way)

Picture 9 - Sarah and Martha

Picture 10 - Martha, Sarah, our brother Donald and Debbie. This picture was taken in my kitchen during a very fun get together many years (>10) ago. We cherish this picture as it was one of the last pictures of the four of us before my brother's illness took over.