Hello Everyone.

My very dear friend Christine Gust has had quite a few setbacks this year. Around Easter 2022, she got a Golden Doodle named Benny for her and her three kids. One day, just after bringing him home, he jumped on her lap, and she doubled over in pain. He only weighed 6 pounds at the time, so she called her doctor to find out the issue.

After multiple tests and scans, they found a cyst on one of her ovaries. She had an emergency hysterectomy and learned that she had what was believed to be Stage 2 ovarian cancer.

Christine also underwent a mammogram and an ultrasound of her lymph nodes. Unfortunately, the test results confirmed that her ovarian cancer had spread to her left armpit. This new development upgraded her cancer from Stage 2 to Stage 4. This was a massive blow to Christine and her family, as the recurrence rate for this has increased exponentially.

Currently, Christine is not working, and while she is using sick time, her new Stage 4 diagnosis makes going back to work questionable at this time. If this happens, her only income and health insurance for her and her kids are gone.

To feel prepared, she has been arranging her “end-of-life arrangements,” updating her will, healthcare proxy, and executor, which all add expenses. She also wants to ensure that attorney fees and funeral costs are taken care of.

While going through the biggest fight of her life, Christine has also had some significant financial blows this summer, which has depleted most of her savings. Her AC/furnace stopped working, her "life saver" Golden Doodle Benny broke his leg and had a rod inserted into his leg and currently needs his cast replaced weekly while he grows, and she needed to purchase a new recliner so that she can sleep downstairs when she is too weak to climb her stairs.

As she takes care of herself, she still devotes much time and energy to her children. Her 18-year-old son is a freshman at Fredonia State as a music education major. Her middle child is a sophomore at Lancaster High School, working hard as part of the Marching Band and an employee at Tops. And her baby is an amazing 13-year-old 6th grader at William Street School who loves puzzles and Disney and has Down Syndrome. Her children mean everything to her.

Money should be the last thing she or her children need to worry about, and I hope that with this, she can focus her energy on her treatment and recovery instead of ensuring she keeps a roof over their heads and food on the table.