Finding Peace & Comfort while battling cancer.

If I may, I would like to take a moment of your time to share a brief snapshot of a good friend of mine and the new twist and turns her life and the life of her family has recently taken. Her name is Leathra and her husband is Tom. They just celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary. They have 7 lovely children of their own and are helping to raise her brother's autistic 6 year old twin boys. Their two oldest boys are currently out of the house. The oldest is serving in the USAF and the next oldest is serving a mission for his church, The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter- Day Saints. The children still in their home range in ages from 16 to 4. The youngest 3 children are homeschooled. One of the children has a processing disorder and Leathra is trying to support her catching up educationally. Leathra's husband, Tom, is a Special Education teacher and both of them are committed to not only helping their children and family, but to helping all these around them. Leathra is an amazingly loving wife and mother who is brilliant, gifted and caring. She is so sweet, just the kind of neighbor you would want. Tom is her best friend, husband for eternity and the love of her life. He teaches children who have a hard time expressing their emotions appropriately and gives them dignity and support as he works with them. Tom loves his job and the people he works with. He respects and appreciates each child and their different learning and communication styles. Right after Christmas, Tom began having stomach issues. He didn't think much of it. Honestly, who wants to run to the hospital with the possibility of getting COVID for an upset stomach? So, he tried to put it behind him, " Man up" as it were. A few days later, after returning to school from break, the pain was so bad he couldn't stand and could hardly talk. He called his best friend, Leathra, and she told him to let his school know. The wonderful principal found him a substitute and had him leave to seek help. Tom managed to get himself to an Insta-Care where Leathra arrived with 5 of her small children in hand. Tom was told they would have to have tests run in the hospital connected to the Insta-Care Center. He was taken there and told he had a perforated bowel and would need immediate emergency surgery. Afterwards, it was a hurry up and wait and pray that his bowels would heal, medical intervention would work and praying that the surgery would prevent him from needing a colostomy bag. After a number of days, they released Tom with a JP bag ( a JP bag/Jackson-Pratt bag is a closed-suction medical device that is commonly used as a post-operative drain for collecting bodily fluids from surgical site)and hoped that he would heal. That hope was dashed 2 days later when he went back into the hospital for another emergency surgery. During this more invasive surgery the Doctor noted a number of unusual signs and took some biopsies. Originally, the Doctor thought his bowel problems were due to diverticulosis, (symptoms of diverticulitis are sharp cramp-like pain, usually on the left side of your lower abdomen, include fever and chills, nausea, vomiting, and constipation or diarrhea. This too can be serious and even life threatening.) but instead, it was discovered that Tom's was due to a very aggressive type of colon cancer. (From no cancer to where it's already spread to his lymph system in 2 months.) Tom wanted to keep his school job so he could keep his insurance. However, Tom is currently in the fight for his life. He has applied for emergency leave and has been placed on a list so people can donate leave to him. When that runs out, he can help to pay for his substitutes at a cost of $100 per day. This would come out of his pocket. So, this is a bit of an unusual GoFundMe. First, if you are a teacher and could donate sick leave time, it would be so wonderful second, Leathra knows she's going to need to go back to work. (Tom's Oncologist already said she would need to.) The real help she needs is a GoFundMe that says" Will You Hire Me?" She has two bachelor's degrees, one in Psychology and one in Virtual Technologies. They are praying not so much for a handout but a hand up. Tom is trying to modify his work by using the disability act that cancer falls under. He wants to work as much as he is able during the treatment & illnesses related to the treatments. Leathra wants to find a job that she can do and still care for the needs of her family and children. She has an online resume that can be accessed and samples of the type of work she can do. So as her friends, we are asking that if you can donate either sick leave time or help in paying for his substitutes, that would be awesome, but if not, can you please pray for this family and share this go fund me. If you are in the position to consider hiring Leathra, would you please look at her qualifications and consider her as an employee. You can follow Tom's battle on Tom's Cancer fight on YouTube. They are documenting their family's journey. They want to let others know there can be Faith, Hope, and Joy in this unexpected twists in life. I so appreciate you letting me share her load with you. Life's not meant to be carried alone.

Thank you

Sari

https://youtu.be/wWGJfFiiBus