24-7 monitoring & care/funeral costs for Jackie

I am setting up this Go-Fund-Me page to collect donations on behalf of my best friend, Andrea Simpson, to pay for the costs of medical care and for funeral costs, as her mother sadly is losing her battle with cancer.

We thank you in advance and are so grateful for your donations. Anything you can give helps greatly, and every dollar is appreciated.

Jackie was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in July of 2018, and bravely had a mastectomy the following month. At this time she was also diagnosed with COPD and has remained on oxygen ever since. Shortly after the mastectomy she began chemo therapy, however the cancer proved to be very aggressive and by February of this year the cancer had spread to her lungs. 

Jackie continued with a revised chemo treatment plan but 3 short months later, in May of this year, the cancer spread even further, this time to her liver. All of this was absolutely devastating. For her family and friends, and for Jackie herself, a woman who loves life and cherishes it’s every moment, and who had been fighting-with an amazing amount of strength and grace-for every precious day for close to a year to this point. 

While the cancer continued spreading, attacking her body, it left her spirit in tact. We all did what we could to bring joy to Jackie, buying her gifts, making her keepsakes, simply expressing to her the love, gratitude, and inspiration she gave us all. We all wanted to give her nothing but joy and laughter, but Jackie continued to repay these things to us. Ten-fold. Her wisdom, her sass, the enormous strength and bravery she had displayed her entire life only grew, and mostly her sense of humor, which has never wavered. Talking to her on the phone, texting her, interacting with her on social media you would never know she was so sick. 


So, one week ago when she was rushed into emergency brain surgery, it was crushing news. They discovered and removed a “lacrosse-ball-sized” tumor from her brain that had caused bleeding. The surgery was successful, but the cancer had weakened her body drastically, and it is difficult now for her to even muster the energy to speak. She was transferred from the hospital to a hospice facility and we were told she had less than 6 months to live. 


All of this news met so many things. It was shocking, and unfair. We felt sadness and anger at the same time we felt gratitude for the successful surgery and for every precious second more it has given us with her. But all of this hurts most for her daughter, my best friend, Andrea. 


From the second her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, Andrea has been a rockstar. For all the bravery, strength, grace, and gratitude that Jackie has shown, Andrea has shown us the same. She has been by her mom’s side at every appointment, chemo session, scan, surgery and procedure, of which there have been many. She has shared every nervous moment waiting for results and endured every gut-wrenching piece of bad news right alongside her mom. She has researched and learned everything she could about not only the disease itself but how she could give her mom the best possible care. And then gave her even better. She truly goes above and beyond to help Jackie make the best of every moment left. See, Jackie is not only Andrea’s mother, she truly is her best friend. 


The relationship Andrea and her mom share is beautiful especially the smiles and laughs they share, of which there are many. Andrea never puts herself first, always others, especially her mom. When Andrea bought her first home 2 years ago for her and her mom. I was so proud of her and happy for her, but what made HER proud and happy was being able give her mom a place they could really call their own again, after losing their home several years ago when her father was sick with Cancer. Yes, sadly this is the second parent that she will lose to the ugly disease.


The hope is that Jackie will be well enough to leave the hospice facility to spend her final days at home with Andrea and her beloved pets. However, she will require 24/7 monitoring and care, of which Medicare will not cover all of. Andrea is extremely hard-working but needs all of our help to afford this. Jackie also does not have life insurance and we will need help with funeral costs when she passes. 


I have been fortunate enough to be friends with Andrea since we were 14. That makes 17 years I have known her mom, and she truly is like a second mom to me. She has advised me, and loved me through some extremely tough times in my life. Jackie was always taking in friends of Andrea’s and her brother, Aaron, and I was one of them. She is one of the kindest, wisest, most loving, giving and strong people I have ever known and she clearly had passed all of the qualities along to her daughter. 


I would love it if we can come together and raise some money to help Andrea during this difficult time. She has been so strong, and taken such good care of her mom that she barely has time to even begin processing her own emotions. I would love to be able to help take away some of the financial burden so that Andrea can focus on continuing to provide the best care for her mom, and more importantly so that she can spend every precious moment with in a more peaceful headspace rather than being stressed and worrying about medical and funeral costs. 

Literally anything helps. YES, even $1. Please, give what you can. I can think of no one more deserving than Andrea and Jackie.