Donate to Help Jillian and Family

Hi, my name is Lindsay, and I'm Jillian's sister. I'm fundraising to help cover the costs of Jillian's final expenses, memorial, and some funds to allow her husband (Chris) to grieve and be at home with her during her last days.

Jillian has been home on hospice for nearly a month. She has many good days, and some are harder. Chris goes to work most of his scheduled days (and picks up extra some days). On Jillian's most challenging days and some of her best days, it would mean so much for him to be able to be home with her.

For those who don't know Jillian's whole story, here is the timeline:

2018: Jillian was diagnosed with stage 3 aggressive breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and did extensive chemo and radiation for about a year. She went into remission - yay!

2020: After almost a year in remission and the early days of covid, Jillian got a headache that wouldn't go away no matter what she did. Covid, of course, made getting to the doctor a challenge, and then she found a lump at the back of her head. When she got new scans, cancer was found in her bones, liver, and spots in other places I don't recall.

To say our family was devastated is an understatement. We all knew metastatic breast cancer is a terminal diagnosis. Having a young family, my sister put forth every effort to remain living for as long as possible. She did chemo and radiation, in some form, nearly every day for the last two years.

About a month ago, I took her to the ER because her pain was so bad the home medications could not control it. She had also been unable to keep food or fluids down for a few days. It was Memorial Day weekend, and none of her regular oncology providers were accessible. During that visit, she was referred to the palliative care team at St. Michael Medical Center, who admitted her and set up home hospice.

While it is never good news for a loved one to go into hospice, it was a relief for all to know her pain would be managed well. She still has challenging days, but now we can call someone 24/7 for help. Hospice is a blessing.

We do not know how much time Jillian has left, so we are making memories every day. It has been incredibly challenging for our family to watch cancer slowly take Jillian from us. However, we continue to treasure every day with her. She still has the best sense of humor and the quickest wit out there.

My sister's biggest regret is that she did not purchase more life insurance. She always lived in the moment and wishes she had planned better; we cannot go back in time and change that. We appreciate any donations she receives to help ease the burden on her husband so we can memorialize her and support Chris and the kids through this difficult time.

Feel free to sign up for updates or check in here for them. I will keep this page updated regularly. Thank you all for your support.