Dear Family & Friends,

Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine receiving a midnight phone call from my doctor telling me I have leukemia (me? the runner, swimmer, vegetarian??). Never could I imagine my daughter and I (flanked by family and friends) going to get me admitted to the hospital the next day to begin chemo.  But here we are on our new journey.   I am bursting with energy and vision and strength and ready to go.  I am overwhelmed with love and support.

My health in a nutshell:  I have the leukemia known as AML.  Right now I am in the first phase of chemo where we get me into remission.  After that it's either more chemo or possibly a bone marrow transplant.  Lots more info coming & needed to chart the actual course.  But it will be a doozy.

I have health insurance but it is not high end and all I've heard from everyone is to expect to pay a lot (e.g., 20% of a $100k bill is still $20k).  Details being worked out but I may be needing to begin some forms of co-pay soon.

So I am asking for your help in raising $20k for me and for Alausi, to get us through this aspect of the journey. The number may actually end up being higher, but we will not be able to know that for a few months.  It feels important to get started now  have some peace of mind on the financial front. [Note: Based on information from the hospital and my health insurance I have revised our goal to $12k.]

Please send prayers and love -- those mean more to us than anything else!! And if you are in a space to help us with this we will be forever grateful.

Thank you for being part of the beloved community that inspires and sustains us every day.

With all our love,

Julie & Alausi