Nancy needs your help...now more than ever.

Nancy is 63-year-old retired non-profit manager, mom and grandmother, who currently works part time doing childcare. The job (which she loves) requires lots of lifting, bending, squatting, stooping (along with hugging, squeezing and giggling). This "work" has helped Nancy rediscover the joys of parenting and her inner child! Nancy was diagnosed with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis 7 years ago, although it is believed she has had it for at least 20 years. Nancy has always had a high level of fitness and activity, and that's why her decreasing ability to be active, her increased vision issues, poor balance and clumsiness led to her diagnosis. Because of her overall good health during her adult years, Nancy missed the relapse remitting phase of MS. Now, she is in a secondary progressive phase of the disease - meaning "it is all downhill from here." She has had to cut back on her childcare duties, and is therefore struggling to pay for housing, and keep the bills paid. Those of us, who know her, still see Nancy's positive outlook on life. She is upbeat, encouraging and often pitches in to help others as they go through their own personal challenges. She tends to see the glass as half full and seldom focuses on the issues and challenges that MS presents in her life. She takes a lot of it in stride. In fact, if you ask her about it, she will tell you that so many others have problems worse than hers. And that is why we are here today. Like most of us, Nancy is working within a small budget, and increasing medical and equipment costs are getting hard to squeeze in. A recent hospital stay and sepsis, combined with a bout of pneumonia also resulted in multiple unplanned medical expenses and prescription costs. For a person with MS, any small illness is problematic. In addition to potentially exacerbating MS symptoms, the recovery from what might be a minor setback for a healthy person, is a major setback for a person with MS. Nancy's medical care team expects that it likely will take up to six months for Nancy to fully recover her energy and well-being. Nancy desperately needs help with her living and medical expenses. She maintains a vehicle (car note, insurance, maintenance, and Vancouver's insanely high gas prices), healthy and organic (when possible) food (which is essential to her overall health), prescriptions, medical equipment, copayments and debt repayment. Her current health status limits her ability to work any more than she does and the limited income she has does not cover most of what she needs, much less the additional expenses that have arisen due to the pneumonia and other new health issues. Nancy is in immediate need. Her funds for this month - March, have already been exhausted and her account is overdrawn. She does not have the money she needs for her medications and living expenses. This will be an ongoing issue for the next few months until she has regained her energy and ability to increase her working hours. Her goal of $5000 will cover living and medical expenses for approximately three months. Your support will mean the world to Nancy. The knowledge that there will be funds for her to safely and comfortably take care of her needs will help stabilize her and reduce the risk of increased symptomology secondary to stress. This is extremely important for her fragile state and her wellbeing. Most importantly, knowing that there is a community of care that is providing this safety net helps remove some of the isolation that Nancy feels as she quietly struggles with the effects of the disease. Nancy is grateful for the help and support she receives from her daughter while living with her. This essential additional support will lighten the load.  Please share what you can to Nancy's GoFundMe Campaign. Your support truly will make a difference in her life. Thank you in advance for your Loving Care and Compassion.