Join Monique's Fight, One Step At A Time

My amazing, strong, giving, loving sister-in-law is fighting a battle no 38-year-old mother-of-two should have to fight--let alone for the second time-- the battle against cancer. Anyone that knows Monique knows that every decision she makes is rooted in the love for her family-her high school sweetheart, and husband of nearly 15 years, Jamie, and their two 11-year-old twins, Cooper and Joslyn. Cooper’s love of baseball has filled their weekends and hearts with the joy of watching him play and excel in this sport. They love to attend Joslyn’s dance recitals with Dancing Beyond Limits, a group that teaches and inspires young girls to go beyond their own physical limitations and provides adaptive dance with the assistance of a volunteer.

After Monique’s first hard fought (and successful) battle with breast cancer at age 32, she made significant lifestyle changes including clean eating. She spends countless hours planting, growing, harvesting, and preparing food for her family. She’s a phenomenal gardener and loves it! She very carefully makes and balances the nutrients needed for Joslyn’s diet to help minimize the seizures Joslyn experiences due to having Rett Syndrome, an extremely rare neurological disorder. Monique has made it her mission to ensure that Joslyn experiences all the good things life has to offer. She has also worked to benefit the lives of other children in her community by helping to lead efforts to design, fund and install an accessible playground in their small town. This family is absolutely FILLED with love, love for one another, love for their community, and love for God. They are very active in their church and have many close friendships there too.

Thankfully, Monique has been cancer free for the last six years. A few months ago, she started to experience pain in her neck and head. After a startling, and temporary, loss of vision, she went to the ER and got an MRI. The MRI showed tumors in her brain. After a PET scan, additional tumors were found in her lung and bones. It was confirmed that her original cancer has returned.

Since then, she has started undergoing radiation (ten rounds over the course of ten days). Each ten minute daily radiation treatment requires a 3 hour round trip drive. The oncologists here have said the only treatment they will do is called monoclonal antibody chemo that will only slow it down.

Jamie and Monique plan to pour everything they have into healing for Monique. They will be pursuing other opinions and treatment options that will likely lead them out-of-state for care. No option is off the table. To make this happen they will need our help. They will need assistance with paying for out-of-state care that may not be covered by insurance, gas to get to all of the appointments, as well as their routine expenses. Monique is unable to work while going through treatment, and Jamie is taking frequent time away from work to attend her treatment and care for her. As they go through their most important battle yet, easing their financial concerns is one way we can help, and can remove one concern for them during this very challenging time. Please consider donating to this GoFundMe account, funds will go directly to Jamie and Monique.