Commissioning Band Pieces after Cancer Journey

For those of you who may or may not have been following my cancer story on my Caring Bridge site, I was diagnosed in March 2020 with stage IV colon cancer at the age of 34. I had metastasis in my lymph nodes, "innumerable" metastases in my liver, and I was told I was inoperable by two doctors.  I was too scared to ask my doctor for my prognosis since I'd seen the 5-year survival rate online and it looked really grim.  All of this was a complete shock to me and my family.  I was going through diagnosis and scans right as the world shut down for covid-19, so needless to say it's been an interesting and lonely journey these past 5 months.  I was also diagnosed with pneumonia and blood clots in both of my legs the week I started chemotherapy in April.  All spring and summer, the doctors threw "the kitchen sink" of chemo drugs at me for 8 rounds. At the end of July I got the news that I thought I would never hear, that I was in remission! This was really unheard of and rare to have a complete response to just chemo without any surgeries, liver ablation, resections, etc. I'm so incredibly blessed! I'm still on maintenance chemo every two weeks for life because the risk of recurrence is real. Needless to say this has turned my life upside down. I was just coming to the acceptance stage of having maybe 1-2 years of life left to live and now I possibly have my future back, so I've decided to take advantage of every second I get which leads me to this project I'm raising money for.

For years I've thought about getting a grade 1 piece of music commissioned for my students to play at school in their yearly spring band concert and I figured if I don't do it now, it won't ever happen.  Then in my 3am insomnia musings I realized that I wanted to also commission a more involved harder, longer piece of music about my cancer journey.  Music has been such a huge part of my life and I'm currently starting my 13th year as an elementary band director in Fairfax County, VA.  Listening to music is what calmed me down these past few months when I was dealing with anxiety, high blood pressure, sleepless nights, walks in the neighborhood, etc. It was also a huge day for me when I felt well enough to finally play my oboe again. I would love to be able to express myself and my journey through music.  So I'm actually raising money for two commissions (a fun piece for my students to play and an in-depth piece about my cancer journey), both done by the wonderful Brian Balmages who has agreed to take on both of my pet projects.  It would mean so much to me (and to the music community) to have these pieces written just for me.  I feel like it would be a wonderful legacy to leave behind.  Cancer has touched almost everyone in some way or another, so hopefully this music touches you as much as it will me. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in the past 5 months and I hope you can support me in this endeavor, even if it's just a small donation.