BethAnn's A Brain Cancer Surviver !

Hello friends~ My sister BethAnn Barton is a miracle. She has managed to survive 5 years with Stage3 Brain Cancer. It is exceedingly rare to survive this long with a brain tumor as virulent as hers. In 2009, Beth was originally given 6 months to live after Doctors discoved a tumor the size of a plum deep inside the prefrontal lobe of her brain. But BethAnn is a fighter, and after her initial surgery she underwent radiation and chemotherapy (3 kinds), which she continues to this day. She once showed me the vast amount of pills she has to take. They fill a duffel bag. The radiation/chemo/pill/MRI regimen takes alot out of her, but she is determined to fight.  Beth has researched her condition extensively so as to take advantage of all possible options to save her life. I was with BethAnn for her 2nd surgury in February 2014 to remove regrown tumor. This time the surgery caused Beth to have a condition called Aphasia. She can think of what she wants to say, but it is very difficult for her to speak the words. As you can imagine, this is very distressing for a former school teacher. She has been so brave. She has kept her sense of humor too.  After her 1st surgery, with all her blonde hair gone, she referred to herself as Ole Denty Head! In all this time, she has worked valiantly to remain upbeat, but, distressingly, in the past 2 weeks, Bethy has started to lose her battle with depression. Every day for the past 14 days my sister has professed her desire to take her life. She has lost her will to live because all that she worked so hard for has been taken from her. One of the biggest issues Beth is facing (besides her brain tumor), is that she is now very isolated from daily life experiences. Just meeting people, talking with people, making new friends, seeking out daily adventures in a safe small town environment. This is why we are in dire need of help in giving my sister some of her precious life back. After her tremendously brave struggle with this take-no-prisoners disease, she deserves to feel that her life has meaning again. I want her to have hope again with all my heart. Here is some background on BethAnn. Beth worked her way through college to achieve her Masters degree, and went on to teach children with special education needs for 20 years. A great many of her former students keep in touch with her in gratitude of her positive influence in their lives. BethAnn also owned her own home in Tucson. It was tiny and quirky (like Beth!), but it was hers. She was proud of being able to influence and guide so many young people in her job and proud of her independence too. Now, because astronomical medical bills cost her her life savings and her home, she is living in a motorhome on my parents property in Colorado. The property is remote and rugged, 45 minutes by car from the nearest town, and 8000 feet in elevation. Needless to say, the winters are very cold. My mother is a retired RN, so she is a wonderful caregiver. Beth has professed her desire to live in town because she is so isolated now. Simple things like walking in the sunshine, to the store or the library, or to get something to eat, she greatly misses. The town is called Canon City and it is about 5000 feet in elevation, so my sister would not be snowed in for the winter, in a motorhome with a space heater, like she was last year. She is so tiny now from all the chemotherapy that she gets cold easily. I would like to help her find a small apartment in town that would also accept her dog companion, Sunny. She has no children. My parents are retired and on a very fixed income. They help with the enormous medical bills she has, but we do not have enough funds for her apartment. I have helped Sissy in the past and will continue to help. I have a family with children and am in school to be a Physician Assistant (big student loans :( ), so my contribution is just not enough.  The list for government housing  assistance is so long in Colorado that it is closed for new applicants! Beth is very capable of independent living if she can afford to have a home health worker check on her daily for meds and well being, along with family calling and coming down when the roads are passable in winter. All donations will be used for Beth's apartment rental, home health worker visits, and daily living costs. I have Southwest miles to fly to Colorado to help Beth transition to her new living space.  She is able to confide in me, and I am able to console and comfort her, and I spoil her too. :-)  BethAnn's greatest wish is to have her own apartment in town so she has the opportunity to live her life as fully as she can once again. Won't you please help BethAnn get her hope back? Anonymous donations are welcome. Thank you so much for your consideration.