Elizabeth Marum's Quality of Life

On March 9th, we were stunned to learn that my incredible mother-in-law, Elizabeth Marum, has glioblastoma, a very aggressive form of brain cancer. Earlier that week, she underwent a successful surgery to remove a mass in her brain, and following a biopsy of that mass, she was formally diagnosed. Even with the best treatment, Elizabeth faces a difficult road. We are grateful Elizabeth trusted her intuition to get medical care and a diagnosis soon after feeling something amiss; her quick action will translate to more quality time doing the things she enjoys with the people she loves. She is already set up with appointments to begin the next steps in her treatment, and she's facing things with her typical practical, strong, and honest approach.

We are hopeful that insurance, primarily Medicare, will cover most of her direct medical bills, but we are aware that along the path, she will likely face significant expenses related to maintaining the quality of life she deserves. We'd like to ensure she is able to receive nontraditional treatments such as acupuncture, be able to hire help for things around the house as needed, and have the resources to treat herself as she so desires. Additionally, with both sons and three grandchildren living on the East Coast, and her loving siblings in Arizona, we'd like to ensure the family can afford to be together as much as possible. We hope this campaign can make this situation as comfortable for Elizabeth as possible and ensure cost is one less thing on her mind while she focuses her energy on treatment and creating special memories with her community.

We are asking that folks donate at whatever level they feel comfortable. We know that Elizabeth’s actions have touched innumerable lives through her work with the Belgrade City-County Planning Board, the Planning Coordination Committee, and organizations like Big Sky 55 and the Gallatin County Democrats. Never afraid of putting the needs of her community before her own, she also ran a tireless campaign to represent House District 67 in the 2022 election cycle. Through the knowledgeable and influential network she created, we connected with friends who encouraged us, her family, to offer this campaign.

She is passionate, engaging, thoughtful, and is one of the best damn bakers around (she wanted to take this part out, but we convinced her otherwise). I believe she knows how much she is loved, and we hope this campaign really helps add some tangibility to that. We are so grateful to all who have reached out to offer support already, while allowing her family the space to process this news alongside her. We know that financial offerings are not always accessible, and are ever grateful for good vibes, meals shared, or quality time offered to Elizabeth.