Gabbert Family Survival Fund
Donation protected
Hello World!
My name is April Gabbert. I am a mother, a widow, and now a woman with breast cancer. Since my husband passed away four years ago I have given my time and money to help many people in need. My children did not want for anything, and I helped a lot of people get their lives together. For that I have no regrets.
My plan was to live off the Social Security survivor's benefits and then get back out into the working world when they expired. No problem, right? Well...my youngest son just turned 16 so my benefit expired. I made myself an impressive resume, not easy to do when you have a 12 year gap in your work history (I had been a stay at home mommy for 8 years at the time of my husband's death) and I hit the bricks. It was like diving into a glacial lake. Not quite as easy as I expected it to be, and shocking as hell when I hit the water. Nevertheless, I kept plugging away. I scored a couple of decent interviews that unfortunately did not pan out, but I still had hope. Then Christmas came rolling around. I had to beg borrow and steal to put together a decent holiday for my kids, but I did it. I thought I'd just get the holidays over with then get back out on the pavement. Well...one morning in the shower I found a rather impressive lump in my left breast. This was two weeks before Christmas, so rather than ruin the holiday for my kids, I kept it to myself and decided to address it at the beginning of the year.
Once again, I feel like I dove headfirst into that glacial lake, except there's no land to swim to and I'm going into shock from the cold. After a battery of tests my doctors have determined that I have Stage 2 breast cancer. I have a tenacious little tumor in my lymph nodes as well. I have to go in for an MRI and a PET scan to determine whether these bothersome little invaders have landed anywhere else in my body before we can begin treatment. If that is the case, then we can call this Stage 4 cancer. NOT COOL. Once all the testing is finished, we know that the treatment will be, not necessarily in this order, a double masectomy, removal of the lymph nodes and any other offenders, radiation therapy, then chemotherapy. Looks like I picked a bad day to stop huffing glue. (that was a joke people, I didn't really quit....LOL) (Joke again)
So, all of this being said, there is no way I'll be able to find work while being thoroughly violated by these surgeries and therapies. I have zero intent on leaving my kids orphans, so I'll be taking on any and all treatment options that my beloved Medicaid will allow. I currently don't have enough money to pay my bills, let alone treatments that aren't covered, healthy foods, and maybe a dietician to help me straighten out my food habits (I'm a sucker for peanut m&m's). I'm a renter and my lease is up in March, so I'll hopefully be moving during all of this fun stuff too. Needless to say, I currently don’t have the money to pull it off.
I'm a sculptor and glass artist, so i hope to find time to make and sell some artwork to help supplement my income. Also, in the interest of helping other people endure this terrifying adventure, I'd like to start a blog that will show my followers what it's like from start to finish. I'm researching this now and should have it up and running within a week or so.
And so, gentle readers, I implore you to dig in your pockets, couch cushions (mine are all cleaned out already), your neighbor's garbage, sell your aluminum cans, or cash in your piggy banks. After a lifetime of helping others I am now at your mercy and in need of your help. My kids need a mother, and I need the relief of knowing that I can keep them warm and well fed, so I can focus on surviving.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you were able to get an idea of who I am, and why I might deserve your support. If you can't donate, just sharing this with all of your friends will help tremendously.
Mere words cannot express how grateful I will be to you, gentle friend, for any support you can offer.
THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!
-april
P.S. I will attach a link to my blog here once I get it running. I’m hoping I can make it informative, yet palatable.
My name is April Gabbert. I am a mother, a widow, and now a woman with breast cancer. Since my husband passed away four years ago I have given my time and money to help many people in need. My children did not want for anything, and I helped a lot of people get their lives together. For that I have no regrets.
My plan was to live off the Social Security survivor's benefits and then get back out into the working world when they expired. No problem, right? Well...my youngest son just turned 16 so my benefit expired. I made myself an impressive resume, not easy to do when you have a 12 year gap in your work history (I had been a stay at home mommy for 8 years at the time of my husband's death) and I hit the bricks. It was like diving into a glacial lake. Not quite as easy as I expected it to be, and shocking as hell when I hit the water. Nevertheless, I kept plugging away. I scored a couple of decent interviews that unfortunately did not pan out, but I still had hope. Then Christmas came rolling around. I had to beg borrow and steal to put together a decent holiday for my kids, but I did it. I thought I'd just get the holidays over with then get back out on the pavement. Well...one morning in the shower I found a rather impressive lump in my left breast. This was two weeks before Christmas, so rather than ruin the holiday for my kids, I kept it to myself and decided to address it at the beginning of the year.
Once again, I feel like I dove headfirst into that glacial lake, except there's no land to swim to and I'm going into shock from the cold. After a battery of tests my doctors have determined that I have Stage 2 breast cancer. I have a tenacious little tumor in my lymph nodes as well. I have to go in for an MRI and a PET scan to determine whether these bothersome little invaders have landed anywhere else in my body before we can begin treatment. If that is the case, then we can call this Stage 4 cancer. NOT COOL. Once all the testing is finished, we know that the treatment will be, not necessarily in this order, a double masectomy, removal of the lymph nodes and any other offenders, radiation therapy, then chemotherapy. Looks like I picked a bad day to stop huffing glue. (that was a joke people, I didn't really quit....LOL) (Joke again)
So, all of this being said, there is no way I'll be able to find work while being thoroughly violated by these surgeries and therapies. I have zero intent on leaving my kids orphans, so I'll be taking on any and all treatment options that my beloved Medicaid will allow. I currently don't have enough money to pay my bills, let alone treatments that aren't covered, healthy foods, and maybe a dietician to help me straighten out my food habits (I'm a sucker for peanut m&m's). I'm a renter and my lease is up in March, so I'll hopefully be moving during all of this fun stuff too. Needless to say, I currently don’t have the money to pull it off.
I'm a sculptor and glass artist, so i hope to find time to make and sell some artwork to help supplement my income. Also, in the interest of helping other people endure this terrifying adventure, I'd like to start a blog that will show my followers what it's like from start to finish. I'm researching this now and should have it up and running within a week or so.
And so, gentle readers, I implore you to dig in your pockets, couch cushions (mine are all cleaned out already), your neighbor's garbage, sell your aluminum cans, or cash in your piggy banks. After a lifetime of helping others I am now at your mercy and in need of your help. My kids need a mother, and I need the relief of knowing that I can keep them warm and well fed, so I can focus on surviving.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you were able to get an idea of who I am, and why I might deserve your support. If you can't donate, just sharing this with all of your friends will help tremendously.
Mere words cannot express how grateful I will be to you, gentle friend, for any support you can offer.
THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!
-april
P.S. I will attach a link to my blog here once I get it running. I’m hoping I can make it informative, yet palatable.
Organizer
April Gabbert
Organizer
Kirkland, WA
