Aid Tessa's Recovery and Bring Eveie Home

This might be long, and it gets a little bumpy, but if you take the time to read, and/or donate and share, I appreciate you more than you could ever know.

One of my long-time, dearest friends, Tessa, was diagnosed with a non-curable form of leukemia. She also has several other health issues, including diverticulitis. She was hospitalized recently from December 11, 2024, through January 12, 2025, and then went right back January 15 through 29. There was a whole host of issues with her treatment, including mistreatment by hospital staff, surgeries not able to be completed because of scarring, sepsis that needed emergency surgery... the list goes on and on. During this time, her husband, Denver, took time off work to stay with her at the hospital, at one point even sleeping on a bench in the lobby, as he was not allowed to sleep in her room while she was in ICU. He wanted to be close by at all times, not only in case things got even more dire, but also because she was struggling mentally, as well as physically, and would go into a panic whenever he left.

They have a 13-year-old daughter (my goddaughter), Eveie, who was in the care of my friend’s mother, who then got sick and ALSO needed hospitalization, at which point Eveie went to stay with her maternal aunt, Leeanne. The relationship between Tessa and Leeanne has been strained over the last several years, but we all just assumed given the circumstances, any ill will would be set aside. Until Leeanne tried to convince them to sign guardianship until the end of the school year, and when they refused, she threatened to call CPS on them. They were in no way worried and basically said, “bring it!”, as they’re extremely loving parents, who provide all the necessities and then some for their only child. Little did anyone know that during the almost 2 months that no one had been living at their house (except the 3 cats), Leeanne had gone to their house and taken pictures of the condition of the house. She did, in fact, file a complaint with CPS, who did a thorough investigation of the home and interviewed Tessa, Denver, Eveie, Tessa’s mother, a guidance counselor from Eveie’s school, as well as Leeanne. Not one of the people interviewed validated ANY of Leeanne’s claims, and the home’s condition had been returned to normal once they were home from the hospital and able to do so. CPS closed the case, stating there was little to no risk for neglect. However, Leeanne was not satisfied with these findings, so she filed a petition through the courts to remove Eveie from her home. The judge, without sending anyone to look at the home, and seemingly without any consideration for the extremely heartbreaking and extenuating circumstances, nor CPS’s findings, ruled in favor of giving Leeanne guardianship, based only on a few pictures that Leeanne showed them, of their house in chaos, during what had to be the hardest time in Tessa, Denver, and Eveie’s lives thus far. So while Tessa is sick, unable to work and function normally (she now has an ileostomy bag that is likely permanent and is still trying to heal from all the complications she faced in the hospital, plus deal with the initial illness), she’s also having to worry about getting her daughter back. Now, if anyone has even gotten this far, I understand you may have questions, even doubts. It sounds unreal and absurd, right?! If CPS closed the case and saw no reason to remove their child, why would a judge?! Surely there’s something being left out of the story! What isn’t being mentioned here?! I read the entire CPS report yesterday, and I assure you, that is entirely what has happened. There was no accusation of any sort of abuse, mistreatment, or anything else, other than the “neglectful” state of the house. And the (very incorrect) accusation that Tessa’s illness is curable and she’s refusing treatment and that Denver has untreated mental illness. I’m not sure when Leeanne got her degrees in oncology AND psychiatry, but I’ve seen many of the medical records, and also a letter from Tessa’s doctor stating it’s incurable and the treatment plan in place is just to watch and wait, essentially. Furthermore, since when are EITHER of those things reasons to take anyone’s child from them?!

So, if anyone has even made it this far, my ask is if we can help raise some money for whatever it is this poor, suffering family may need, be it legal representation to get their daughter back, help with medical needs, just anything. It would mean the world to me, and moreover, I know it would mean the world to them.