Those of you who know my sister know that she is someone who is always taking care of someone else (and often puts her own needs on the back burner). She has been an incredible support for me over the years with all my health issues and has been through so much with her kids. When our parents needed assistance and home care in the last years of their lives, she was instrumental in moving them into our house so we could take care of them. I know there are many of you that can relate and have been recipients of her support. As much as she helps others, it is hard for her to ask for help when she needs it. Well now, she needs your love, prayers, and support to get through a medical condition that has recently been diagnosed.

She has been having trouble with catching her breath and breathing deeply. She recently went to get checked first at an urgent care location and then later ended up in the emergency room. She has been diagnosed with a Hiatal Hernia. It seems that this condition runs in my family - thanks, Dad. I had a Hiatal Hernia years ago followed by a more recent Umbilical hernia. My dad had two hiatal hernia surgeries - the second time it was 12 hours because his stomach and so many of his organs had moved around and were pressing on his lungs. Well, it seems that Sharon has decided to follow my dad's example with this in more ways than she would like. Much like my dad, she has developed a type 4 Paraesophageal Hiatal Hernia. Luckily, her hernia involves fewer internal organs following the stomach in its migration. However, it is still serious as both her stomach and her colon have moved up to the left side of her chest area and are pressing on her left lung. This is causing two-thirds of the lung to be deflated by that pressure, which is also causing her breathing to be labored. The good news is that all of this can be fixed with surgery and the time needed for recovery. The bad news is that she will need to be off work for 4 weeks. While the surgery will be covered by insurance, there are always unexpected medical costs beyond what insurance will cover. The other big factor is that as a nanny, it is very difficult to take 4 weeks off without pay from the family she works for. So, your donation is needed to help cover not only medical expenses but the income that she will lose from needing to take 4 weeks off to recover sufficiently from the surgery.

So many of you have given generously to help me and I hope you can now share that love and financial support with my sister as well. Most importantly, we need to raise enough funds to cover the income loss before she can even schedule the surgery. I know she will also appreciate your emotional support & well wishes to help get through this.