Dear Friends,

This fund is being raised to support Patricia (Patie Jo Koenen) Woods in her battle against stage 4 metastatic breast to bone cancer. Patie is a survivor. She was originally diagnosed with stage 1 invasive breast cancer back in 2015. She had 2 surgeries, underwent chemotherapy, and took maintenance medication during her recovery all while working and raising two young children (Madelyn & Devin). She was declared in remission until 8 years later, when she had a recurrence in October of 2023. This time the cancer is back and further progressed, which means a much more aggressive fight on her part in order to keep living the life she has built for herself and her family. Thus far, she has undergone 35 sessions of radiation treatment, been hospitalized, and is on, in her words, "some hard core meds" to keep this cancer at bay. Patie is up for the challenge, a literal fight for her life, and the battle is far from over.

As a person, Patie is one of the kindest people many of us have ever met. She can bring hilarity to any situation, from the mundane to darker times and everything in between. She is a devoted single mother to two phenomenal children (ages 13 and 11), and prior to this most recent diagnosis, was working two jobs (more than full time) and doing everything to maintain a warm, nurturing, and loving home environment. In addition, in her spare time, Patie enjoys travel, going to concerts, and is a talented painter and artist.

Patie, a.k.a "Dr. Woods," is generous, empathetic, and has dedicated her professional career as a psychologist to helping some of the most vulnerable people in acute distress: she works with institutionalized adults diagnosed w/schizophrenia and psychosis, many of whom also have extensive trauma histories and a lifetime of hospitalizations (some upwards of multiple decades). Her compassion, ability to bear witness to suffering, humor, and levity make her exceptional at her job, in a setting many people find hard to tolerate, let alone willingly and passionately pursue. In addition, throughout her career she has also worked with soldiers and other trauma survivors to address symptoms of PTSD and help them find recovery. Patie truly helps people and transforms lives, and now she is in need of our support.

Patie's family and friends want her to be able to focus solely on her recovery, without the added worry of financial strain being put out of work brings. Any donation you can offer will go towards ongoing cancer treatments, medications, time away from work, and regular daily expenses (i.e., housing, utilities, groceries, meeting her children's ongoing financial needs, etc.).

To know Patie is to love her, and we are all eager to see her healthy and back to the vibrant life she has worked so hard to embody every day.

Thank you to all for your kind support.