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ORIGINAL POST:

Hi, my name is Kristina and Erin is my sister. She is a 38 year old single mom of 2 children (Cannon, age 12 and Everlei, age 8). They live in Heath, OH where the kids attend school and participate in extracurricular activities as well. In July of this year, Erin had a bad and unexpected seizure out of nowhere while she was home alone with her 8 year old daughter, Everlei. Everlei bravely called our mom and the paramedics were able to rush Erin to the hospital and get her stabilized. While in the hospital, her head CT scan revealed a large mass in her brain. We were all completely shocked and terrified. They continued to tell us that this type of tumor was likely cancerous so they transported her to OSU - The James to do further testing.

Once at the James, after multiple tests and a few VERY long days, we were given the shocking news that she has stage 4 Melanoma that has spread to her abdomen, both of her lungs, and her brain. The first step was to remove the brain tumor that caused her seizure. This was terrifying, but she handled it like a champ. Then she started a targeted chemotheraphy that will hopefully shrink the tumors in her lungs, abdomen and brain. We found out a few weeks ago that she does have 4 more lesions in her brain, but we are hopeful that the therapy will continue to work well and keep those lesions small so they do not cause any damage like the first one.

This is a difficult journey that is just beginning and we have been overwhelmed with support from family and the community. With being a single mom and not being able to work, or drive (due to the seizure earlier this year) however, she is struggling to keep her head above water and to keep the kids at their home and school that they have always gone to. Due to her recent full time employment being a civil service job, she does not qualify for SSDI which leaves her with very little income to pay the bills and take care of her kids. She is hopeful that once winter is over and she is cleared to work/drive again, it will be easier to get back up on her feet, but for now, she needs help with rent and utilities to get through these next few months.

We hate to ask for help from everyone, especially so close to the holidays and have tried to handle this difficult time within our family, but we know that there are a lot of people out there who care for Erin and the kids (and our entire family) and want to help out in some way. Please consider making a small donation to help us reach our goal so the kids can stay in their home in Heath and provide them with as much normalcy as possible while she fights this like the amazing warrior she is.