Help Kim get back on her feet & kick cancer's ass

Whether you’re a friend, a business client, a co-worker, a loved one or a combination of all four, you know Kimberly Hitchcock.

She’s the top executive of Multiporpoise Management, overseeing a network of vacation rental and HOA management companies at locations including the Sea Gypsy, Bend Riverside, D Sands, Pioneer Park, Surftides Plaza and The Palisades . She’s our Senior VP of Operations, our friend, our Number 1, a single mother and Cheer Mom.

If you’ve made your way to this GoFundMe page, Kimberly has affected your life positively in some kind of way. Now we ask, if you can, to return the favor and effect positive change for Kim.

On March 11 Kim went to the emergency room after days of excruciating abdominal pain. There, she was given a diagnosis nobody ever wants to hear: cancer. Colon cancer, specifically. She was then flown by Lifeflight helicopter from Lincoln City to Portland, where doctors at St. Vincent Medical Center informed Kim the cancer had spread to her liver and lungs.

As of this writing, 20 days later, Kim remains hospitalized and is fighting to get back on her feet.

Fortunately Kim’s company provides health insurance. But as we all know, insurance exists in a for-profit ecosystem, and while insurance covers the bulk of her costs, she still has a deductible north of $7,000 and her out-of-pocket costs this year will be at least $14,500. On top of that, Kim will not be able to work until she begins chemotherapy and feels well enough to come back to the office. Her hospitalization has consumed her remaining sick time and vacation benefits. She is pursuing every avenue of potential aid, including Social Security Disability, Paid Leave Oregon and options through the Family Medical Leave Act. But none of those options will provide aid for weeks or even months from now.

Kim’s friends and family have started this GoFundMe to give her a lifeline until she gets back on her feet. We’ve set a goal of $20,000 or more to pay her out-of-pocket medical expenses and give her a small cushion until she is able to receive aid and/or become self-sufficient again.

You know Kim. We all know Kim. Everyone understands she's stubborn, she's a fighter and she doesn't put up with any bullshit. We expect her to face the battle ahead with the same attitude. If there's anyone who can beat this, it's Kim. Fuck cancer!

The plan is to aggressively treat her condition with chemotherapy, shrink the cancer spots and then pluck them out. Cancer treatments are improving every day, and as Kim works to manage her condition, the chance of treatment breakthroughs increase every year.

In the meantime, your donation will give her the support to get back on her feet. Kim has been telling everyone close to her that the plan is to be around for at least another 30 years. She is a single mom of a 9-year-old and is determined to see her grow up. If you ask her about the prognosis, Kim will tell you this: "I'm going to beat this because I don't have a choice. I'm going to beat this for my daughter."

Kim knew when she went to the hospital things were going to get worse before they got better. She spent her 41st birthday in a hospital bed. A few days later she underwent a 4 1/2-hour surgery where doctors laparoscopically installed a colostomy bag to get around the blockage in her colon. They also installed a port through which she will soon receive chemotherapy treatments.

She was poised to return to Lincoln City when some additional hiccups occurred. Doctors found a blood clot in her leg and a pulmonary embolism in her lung. She is on blood thinners and is also receiving blood transfusions for anemia. Doctors have kept her hospitalized longer than she would prefer.

We expect Kim will choose to come back to work as soon as she can. Your help will make that possible. Please join her friends, colleagues and co-workers as we send love and support — financially, with prayers or by other means — to Kim’s family, her mother Julie and her daughter Kahlia as they take on this new challenge.