Donya's Dream Team - Help Save Her Life

 

Cancer, abandonment, loss of home, loss of income and livelihood during a pandemic hasn't stopped Donya' who is in the greatest battle one could ever face. She may have been your music teacher, colleague, neighbor, relative or friend. Donya' needs our help.

 

I met Donya' 28 years ago when my oldest daughter began piano lessons in her home music studio in Friendswood, Texas. I always admired her for her deep love of music and how she connected with each student she taught. They were all special to her in their own way. I watched her as she started a family and grew her business from a home studio to two commercial locations, even mentoring my daughter while she was in high school.

 

We lost touch a few years after my daughter graduated and moved to college, but were reconnected in 2018, after her initial cancer diagnosis. Since that time, I have witnessed Donya' walk with grace and grit through more trials than a person should bear. She has touched many lives and now she needs our help.

 

Please take a moment and read her story of great love, life and loss. If you feel led, please give.

 

Thank you,

 

Rhonda Chatham

 

READ DONYA'S STORY IN HER OWN WORDS

 

One moment can change everything. On April 8, 2018, that moment became real in my life. My life was completely different in those days. I was a mother, wife, business owner and teacher living in a suburban neighborhood just outside of Houston, our home for over 30 years. I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer which would later metastasize to my liver and lungs.

 

I was fortunate to live near M D Anderson, which would become my home away from home, my place of care. Over the next few years, I would undergo 9 surgeries, 43 rounds of chemo, a medical trial, labs, procedures and endless doctor appointments.

 

Most important to me in this journey was to continue the things I loved: keeping my business intact, teaching music students, playing the piano, spending time in my garden, riding my bike, enjoying Baylor bear football and spending as much time as possible with friends and family.

 

During the first year of my cancer battle, I did all that and more. A typical week consisted of teaching 45 piano students, directing a community homeschool children's choir, teaching drumming classes as well as eight summer music camps. Even with set backs due to surgeries or chemo, I was determined to continue to ride my bicycle. My Anderson doctors encouraged me and were most supportive of my cycling. I found peace in nature, on bike trails or in my backyard vegetable and flower garden. My youngest daughter left for college that year and I tried to make every important college event, as I had for her older siblings.

 

In May of 2019, friends, family, my M D Anderson doctors and I were celebrating. I had finished 12 rounds of chemo, a surgery called LARS, endured an ileostomy for 5 months followed by a reversal surgery which took the ileostomy away. My doctors declared that I was NED, which stands for No Evidence of Disease, words every cancer patient longs to hear. Unfortunately, those words were short lived. In less than a month, the doctors would realize that they had missed two additional tumors in my liver. I was not NED. I was now a stage 4 cancer patient and I would need surgery immediately, a liver resection and a liver ablation.

 

A cancer diagnosis in 2018 was just the beginning of my series of losses. The biggest loss was yet to come. My husband of 32 years filed for divorce, abandoning me while I was in liver surgery at M D Anderson and moved to another state where he had a new life already established. While he filed for divorce in 2019, the divorce has never finalized as he disappeared leaving me with no financial income. Loss of our family home, medical insurance, income, and more resulted after his abandonment.

 

I am still fighting cancer daily. I am not able to teach any longer due to a compromised immune system during this pandemic. The income from my career is no more.

 

This Go Fund Me will be used for the following:

• 3.5 years of mounting medical bills

• Monthly medical insurance premiums allowing me to have medical coverage and continue treatment

• Daily living cost that cover prescriptions, gas to and from medical appointments, parking fees and misc. expenses.

 

While life loss has been great, I have been blessed beyond measure. I truly believe that God is Able and He has not failed Donya' Burlock Easterly. I am His miracle and I truly believe I have a story to share with the world that I hope will help others through their life losses. I have been surrounded by the love of friends and family from around the world. Sharing music with children has been my life passion and students from over 30 years of teaching have surrounded me with their love, support and prayers during this difficult time. I cherish them all and I am forever humbled by their great love and support in my life. I am most thankful for all of those that have stood by me and I want to thank those reading my story right now. I would also like to thank anyone and everyone that has chosen to support me in this journey. Thank you.

 

Donya' Burlock Easterly