UPDATE 03/12/26

Wow. We are so unbelievably grateful for the flood of love and support we’ve received this week.

It’s been overwhelming in the best possible way. Because of you, we’ve officially reached our goal, which means we can move forward with getting Cailin her nerve-sparing double mastectomy.

We’ve decided to leave the page up until the surgery. We’re being told recovery could take 3–6 months of being mostly out of commission, and it may take close to a year before she’s really feeling like herself again. Any funds raised beyond the goal will go toward those recovery expenses during that time.

Thank you all for showing up for us like this. It truly means more than we can say.

ORIGINAL POST

Cailin has breast cancer and needs your support.

Our beloved Cailin was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. After consulting with doctors, it’s been determined that the best path forward will be a bilateral mastectomy.

As you can imagine, this has turned our world upside down. For most of us, she is easily the healthiest person we know, and yet, as unfair as it seems, these are the cards she was dealt. In true Cailin fashion, she has been focused on what the universe is trying to teach her through this unwelcome experience. One of the early lessons has been to overcome something she has historically struggled with - asking for and receiving help. Thus, we are reaching out to ask for your support to help Save Cailin's Yitties.

Or more specifically, to help save her quality of life. Without going too far into the weeds, most mastectomies involve severing all the nerves in the armpits, leaving complete numbness across the entire breast for the rest of your life. This can result in the tissue eventually dying because it is not receiving adequate blood flow, and will also cause lifelong flare ups of "phantom pain" as the nerves try to communicate with what has been removed.

In the past week we have seen a range of surgeons from "it will probably look okay under a sweatshirt" to someone Cailin referred to as Doctor Frankenstein. Recently, we were blessed to find that the preeminent reconstructive surgeon in the world happens to be located 3 hours from our new home. In a crazy coincidence, this surgeon was also diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38, and together with her husband, they have developed a procedure that does not sever the nerves. This gives her a much better chance of retaining feeling and maintaining healthy tissue. It will be huge for her long-term wellbeing, recovery, and simply feeling like herself again.

The mastectomy itself is covered by our insurance, but unfortunately, the surgery which gives her the best chance at maintaining sensation while avoiding tissue failure and lifelong phantom pain is currently considered specialized and is not covered.

So yes, this is technically a fundraiser to help save Cailin’s yitties—but more importantly, it’s about helping her come through cancer with the best possible outcome and quality of life.

Every dollar of the goal will go directly toward the cost of this surgery. We’re being told that recovery could take up to a year, with several months of that being completely out-of-commission. So any funds beyond our goal will go toward recovery expenses during that time.

Your support, whether it’s donating, sharing this page, or sending her a heartfelt message, truly means the world to us and helps lift a little of the weight off our shoulders so we can focus on what really matters right now: Cailin’s healing and recovery.

Thank you for being there with us, we are extremely grateful. ❤️