Eloisa's Ovarian Cancer Drive

"Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing."
- Frida Kahlo

This is a short story of our dear, precious friend Eloisa who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer. For those who would like to take a moment, we'd like to share a little of her past, much more of her present and even littler of her future because honestly, it is so widely unknown to us all...

WHO SHE IS
For one and for starters, Eloisa is delightful and lovely, real and authentic, creative and giving, extremely kind and a beautiful woman inside and out. I do not say these things to make her seem more deserving, they are just and simply TRUE.

It is who she is. She was born in and grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico with her mother (a school teacher) and her grandparents; her American father living in the US. As an only child, she learned to be independent and self-reliant early on and at age 21 armed with her dual-citizenship, she moved to the US 17 years ago to attend college in Oklahoma. After graduating, she moved to New York City where she explored her artistic passions and taught art at an elementary school. And after several years in the Big City, she found her new home in Colorado Springs - thankfully and delightfully for us her friends!

Here in Colorado Springs, she works as an artist making beautiful jewelry and art pieces which she sells through on Etsy and at craft shows, and as an instructor; teaching art to both children and adults at the Bemis School of Art and at Painting with a Twist. Teaching, sharing and expressing art is her passion and her joy. She is energetic and encouraging, and she is extremely good at what she does! Her passion, joy and energy are infectious! Her students respond to her and her teaching because her passion, though very clearly for art, is especially for people. She cares much more about her students' perception and understanding than her own, making sure they are experiencing art in a way each can understand and find their own passion in. It is her heart to make sure everyone leaves one of her classes believing they are an artist, and she tells them so. It is what she truly believes about every person.

THE DISCOVERY
Two years ago Eloisa went in for a routine checkup, her doctor wanted her to have an ultrasound and they found a fibroid on her uterus. It didn't seem to bother her very much until about 6 months ago when the pain began to worsen. After another ultrasound, they saw the fibroid had grown and would need to be removed. She also had 2 cysts on her right ovary which would need to be removed as well, if not her entire ovary. She had laparoscopic surgery on November 2nd in which they removed the large fibroid along with some endometriosis and had to remove her right ovary as well. The surgery went well and Eloisa was doing well in her recovery. Then a week after her surgery, she received a phone call from her surgeon saying they had found cancer in the ovary he had removed, and she would need to schedule an appointment with a local OB/GYN oncologist.

Oh my, it felt overwhelming to watch our dear friend receive this news. But of course, we were all hopeful as we went with her to the oncology appointment a week later, hopeful that all would be well and all would be okay. We piled into the room and sat together waiting for the doctor to come in. And when he did, we were devastated and so heartbroken to learn that Eloisa would need a total hysterectomy and her left ovary removed as well. This was cancer protocol. No other tests, no other procedures, no other treatments would be needed. This IS the treatment. She will need to have 3 to 6 rounds of chemo therapy afterward. Until they perform the surgery, the doctor won't know the extent or spread of the cancer, and they may need to do more depending.

WHAT IS HAPPENING
The follow up surgery is scheduled for December 21st, and it is expected that she will have a 4 to 6 week recovery period. While she worked very hard to prepare herself for her first surgery, she could not possibly have prepared for what lies ahead. In addition to the 4 to 6 week recovery time in which she will be unable to work, she will have many days over the course of the next 3 to 6 months of chemo therapy that will limit her functioning, as well as hospital bills and medications her insurance won’t cover completely.

WHAT SHE NEEDS
So for our dear, dear friend, this precious woman, we have set a goal to raise $15,000 to help cover her medical bills and living expenses over the next six months. Now we know not everyone is in a position to donate, but if you can spare a moment of time, you can still help! Here's what you can do:

1) Make a Donation of Any Size - Even the smallest ones will help!

2) Share this campaign on your Facebook and Twitter feeds.

3) Leave a note in the comments section with any loving advice or encouraging words that you can offer for her heart.

Eloisa has always worked extremely hard, she has been taking care of herself for a very long time and now our sweet friend needs to be taken care of! And this is very hard for her, she wants so much to be able to do it all herself - but as we all know, this is not possible for any of us, we NEED each other! And we are so and ever, ever grateful for each other.

We obviously don't know how long this process will be, we hope and pray it will not be a long and drawn out ordeal for our precious Eloisa, but are praying her body will be healed. We trust our Heavenly Father with our friend; she is His daughter, He created her after all. He knows everything about her- her past, her present, her future... He KNOWS her, He knows what she needs. We are all leaning on Jesus and His incredible understanding of the future we cannot see. But He sees it all and we look to Him. We ask for His soft and loving mercy over Eloisa as we rest in and are assured of His abundant grace and of His fierce and joyful love for her.

So we thank you, dear friends, for reading about our beautiful Eloisa. And thank you for giving to her if you feel led.

Much love to all of you!
Eloisa's Friends
Cristina,  Jessie,  and Elizabeth