My husband Mike and I have enjoyed 22 years together in this crazy world. We have raised 3 beautiful children to be amazing, caring adults. We have both been managers the majority of our adult lives. I went into healthcare during the pandemic, but my husband stayed with managing. Two years ago, we decided to make a leap to set ourselves up for our retirement dream when our cousin offered a too-good-to-be-true job in MN that turned out not to be what was promised, as we found out later. I was able to find a hospital to work at and was excited to work less and have the time to work on my craft of stained glass art. But now, I work full time and take care of Mike.

We found the perfect house that needed work, but we were up for the challenge! After moving in and lining up all the people to bring this place to life, we were hit with a major blow. Two months after moving from our 30+ year lives in KC to rural MN, my husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. I know that people say this a lot, but my husband is the most loving, gentle, nurturing, supportive, inspiring, and most of all, my best friend. He has been fighting this for two years now, all while keeping his positive, funny attitude as best he can as this horrible thing takes all of his energy.

Then another blow, his employer lays him off without pay. On top of everything, he now worries about how we will make it after spending so much money on our home and now his healthcare. When meeting with the Cancer Team Advocates, we were asked a question that tells you everything about how broken our healthcare system is: “Are you guys popular?” You can imagine our confusion. We said, “To our dogs maybe.” Then they went on to talk about starting a GoFundMe account to help ourselves financially. Then I find out I cannot collect survivor's social security benefits until I’m 60. I'm 54, what do I do until then? We started a GoFundMe because we felt this was the only way to at least keep us here where he is happy and help with the worry. This place has been the gathering place for holidays, and our annual BaconFest (family reunion) along with countless Chiefs Football watching!

We have always been the support system for others in their times of need, and here we are about to lose everything because of cancer. Please hear me when I say, there is a reason why tests are recommended at certain ages! Take them! Get over yourself and realize you are not immune to tragedy. Get the colonoscopy! I know it’s horrible, but we could have caught it sooner before it spread to his liver.

I was asked once how I felt about all this. I said that I was glad to have all this extra time to tell him every day how much I love him and how much I loved our life together.

All we need is help to make it until we are ready to leave this all behind and not have to move now when we should be focused on Mike's comfort and peace.

Thank you for anything you can give to help us through this difficult time.