Help Kathy Gardner Through Her Cancer Journey

Dear friends and family,

We hope you are all doing well and enjoying sunny and warmer weather wherever you may be. We are reaching out to you on behalf of our mom, Kathy Gardner. As you all know, our mom is an amazing woman - she is caring, adventurous, and full of life. She is one to give and give and give without expecting anything in return. She genuinely loves helping people; it is her life’s work.

On May 9th, 2025, she was admitted to the hospital in Bend for jaundice and abdominal pain. Originally, her symptoms suggested gallstones but, when they did further imaging, the doctors discovered a mass on her pancreas that was pressing on her bile duct and causing her symptoms. She was able to have a bile duct stent put in to relieve her jaundice and, during the procedure, the surgeon was able to get a biopsy of the mass. A couple of days later, she received a diagnosis that no one wants to get - pancreatic cancer.

It felt like a punch to the gut when we read the pathology report and admittedly, this all still feels very surreal. There are moments when it feels like a bad dream that we will hopefully wake up from. Moments when we can feel multiple feelings at once - sadness, anger, denial, and also gratitude for medical technology and our flexibility to be able to support our mom right now.

While a cancer diagnosis is never welcomed, we are grateful that they found the mass so she can start treatment right away. Our mom had her chemo port placed last week and will be starting rounds of chemo soon; likely this week.

With that in mind, we need a village of support and we’re reaching out to our community to ask for help. This is not just about funds but also showing our mom the unbelievable support system she has all across the country. While we don’t know the full cost of my mom’s treatment after health insurance, we do know there are parts of this process that will be helped by funds from family and friends (i.e. food delivery fees, supplements, acupuncture, massage, travel expenses, at home medical supplies, etc.) The money raised will help ensure our mom is able to get the medical care and support she needs. Ultimately, we want to make sure she is able to focus on her physical, mental, and spiritual health without worrying about any financial burden.

Let’s come together to show our mom all the support she has. She has given so much to each and every one of us and it’s now her turn to receive that love.

With so much gratitude,

Hannah Jandreau + Ian Gardner