My good friend, Jaime Burner, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in her liver, and it’s also in her breasts, lymph nodes, and bones. As you can imagine, this has created a number of emotional and financial hardships for Jaime and her family. I and my family are helping them in any way we can, but I am hoping the GoFundMe community can help in ways that we can’t.

I first met Jaime and her husband, Allen, in 2009 when their youngest son, Cameron, and my youngest son, Zane, became classmates in kindergarten at Spirit Elementary in Deltona, Florida. Halfway through first grade, Zane was moved to the gifted program at Forest Lake Elementary, but fortunately, Cameron soon followed. They have been classmates and good friends ever since and are now in the Cambridge Academy together at Deltona High School. Jaime and Cameron are very close, and she and Allen are raising him into a remarkable young man who is kind, thoughtful, and appreciative.

Jaime is a medical receptionist who works for a primary care physician. Despite working for a doctor and getting regular check-ups, tests, and labs, this cancer diagnosis came out of nowhere about a month ago. It is very aggressive, but Jaime very much wants to fight it. And she’s fighting it with the same smile on her face that she had when we met nine years ago. It seems to never go away.

Jaime’s husband, Allen, is an over-the-road truck driver who’s job requires him to be away from home often, sometimes for weeks at a time. Allen and Jaime have been together for almost 33 years, and this news has been devastating for him. In all the years I have known Allen, I’ve never heard him utter a single word that might put Jaime in a negative light. He has only ever spoken highly of her. On the morning he walked to our house to tell us this terrible news, Allen, my husband, and I were all in tears.

Jaime and Allen are two of the hardest working people I know. They don’t come from money, they live a modest life, and they don’t ever live beyond their means. Before Allen became a truck driver, I remember him being willing to work any job to help support his family. Allen’s never thought twice about doing anything that benefits his family, and he’s been thankful for every opportunity that came along. And Jaime is cut from the same cloth. She recently was in a car accident, had surgery to put pins in a badly broken foot, and went back to work the next day.

Jaime is currently going through chemo to try to get her liver under control before they attempt any surgeries, the first of which will probably be a mastectomy. She still has her smile and a positive outlook, but she is often in pain, and she knows the outlook is not good. Jaime’s oldest son, James, is out on his own already, but she worries about Cameron, being a freshman in high school, and Allen, working on the road all the time.

I don’t know how much money Jaime and her family will need to get though this. Her diagnosis is so recent, there hasn’t even been time for any bills to come in yet. But I know they are coming. Allen is worried about taking time off because Jaime has had to stop working. He’s tried working routes closer to home, but the pay is not as good. Being disabled myself, I know how difficult it can be keeping up with the household chores, so I’m hoping that some of whatever is raised here can help with that. And if some of it can help relieve some financial stress so Jaime can focus on her treatment, that would be one burden she doesn’t have to carry. As she gets further into her treatment, I will post updates about how she is doing and more specific needs that arise. In the mean time, any help you can offer will be a blessing to a family that will truly appreciate it. Thank you.