I hope you have a beautiful girl like this in your life. And I hope she never gets the diagnosis that our girl got this week. Meet my niece, Emily Upton Penn. Emily is just 36; momma to Heidi, Bayze, and Parker; wife of ten years to Shane; and before this month (April 2022), she was healthy her entire life. Four weeks ago, on March 31, she thought she had a standard UTI. Two days later, they removed a cancerous kidney. Today she has Stage 4 Monophasic Synovial Sarcoma. Earlier this week, she was told that she has only weeks to live without treatment. Weeks. Stop for a moment and imagine what that would mean in your life. This cancer seemingly came out of nowhere. Though we believe in miracles, we are shocked and terrified.

Emily and her family have lived in Newburgh, Indiana, for five years. Shane works out of state, so Emily is alone with the children during the week until Shane comes home for the weekend. A stay-at-home mother can't manage cancer treatment independently. Emily and Shane have had to rip their three young children from school, quickly pack emergency supplies and clothing, and race back home to Crystal Springs, MS, to be with family while she attempts treatment. Working across the country has meant Shane hasn’t been able to be with Emily and the children through all of this and will have to take medical leave to be able to do so. The financial toll on any family that goes through this kind of tragedy is staggering, but to make things worse, the only hospital that has given Emily ANY hope of treatment does not accept her family’s insurance. It's been incredibly cumbersome to get her into the care of a team of doctors who can help her, and all the while, her family's living expenses and medical bills are spiraling.

As if all of this weren’t enough, we were told by a sarcoma specialist yesterday (April 29) that Emily’s cancer has metastasized to her lungs, adrenal glands, and liver. She also has developed blood clots in both lungs.

Emily is in terrible trouble, but your generosity could be the difference between life and death for her. And it could be the difference that would allow her children to grow up with their momma.

If you’ve never been in this position, you can’t imagine how humbling it is to be in a place where you have to rely on the kindness and generosity of others. Your generous donation of even $5 will make all the difference in what happens next for Emily and her family. Every single dollar will go towards the fight!

If you can’t give, please know that you can still be a massive help to Emily: you can share this link so that those who CAN give can learn about her story. And you can lift her spirits with your prayers, good wishes, good vibes and by leaving words of support here for her. We welcome ANY communication from you, as all of the love and support have meant everything to her. You can’t know how invaluable this is to her in this dark hour. Just knowing you’re out there, reading this, caring, sharing, praying - that means so much.

We humbly thank you so much for your generosity. I will post updates regularly to keep everyone “in the know” on what’s going on and how Emily is doing.

Thank you, and God bless you all for helping us save Emily.

Note: You’ll see a ‘tip’ slide bar when you donate. Please customize this to $0 or 0% to ensure Emily and her family get as much of your donation as possible.

#EmilyUptonStrong

#BattlingForMoe