Help Roni Survive and Thrive and finish her home

My name is Esther Smith, and I made this Go Fund Me account for my close friends. I am trying to help them in their desperate time of need. Roni is an amazingly strong, self-motivated, hard worker. She is very driven, goal oriented, caring, and would give nearly anyone “the shirt off of her own back” – literally! Her long time best friend and wife, Skook, is the same way. They are both so helpful and kind and are always trying to reach out and help others out of the trials of life.

 

They have adopted six children through the foster care system, to give them a better life and a chance, these children all with severe medical and emotional needs. They have helped me on numerous occasions and have been the kind of friends who don’t just take and take, but give and give instead – scarcely, if ever, asking for anything for themselves.

 

The family consists of two moms and five out of six adopted children still at home. All of the children have intense special needs, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Reactive Attachment Disorder, PTSD, and more… due to the tragedies and abuse that the birth parents inflicted on these children.

 

These two women have spent countless hours caring for their children and trying to undo the damage that was inflicted upon them. They have been struggling to make ends meet, because they need to be home with the children often, due to their special needs. They have been taking turns working and managing to get by for many years, until recently when one of them, Roni Olsen, was diagnosed with cancer for the second time.

 

She beat Breast Cancer the first time around and was cancer free for ten years, but then in 2019 she was diagnosed with Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia (CMML). This type of cancer is a rare form of blood cancer. It occurs when there are too many monocytes (which are a type of white blood cell). In CMML the bone marrow produces abnormal monocytes which are not fully developed and can’t grow normally.

As the CMML progresses, the bone marrow becomes full of the abnormal cells and then they spill out into the bloodstream. Because the bone marrow is full of the abnormal cells, it can’t make enough of the other types of blood cells. This causes bone marrow failure, severe anemia, and loss of the immune system. The survival rate of this disease is generally 15-20 months without a bone marrow transplant. A transplant is the only possible cure for CMML.

 

This family lives in rural areas that are not easy to get the proper medical attention that was needed for Roni. In order for them to temporarily relocate for those medical procedures, the family had to use all of their life’s savings to relocate in Seattle near the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to participate in the Fred Hutch Bone Marrow Transplant Program.

 

Roni was able to successfully qualify for and be matched to a donor. For that Roni, Skook, and their children are VERY thankful… but they spent every dime of donations received in the past and thousands and thousands of savings to make it happen and for Roni to survive. Roni has been so incredibly strong, pushing herself to live, to keep going for her family, to keep homeschooling her kiddos while she is sick. Skook has been trying to work full time and take care of Roni the best she is able, but due to current health circumstances they must live in two separate states juggling half of the children each, and managing two households.

 

Roni works every chance that she gets to, doing construction for others, but she is weak and tired and can’t hold up like she used to, as she continues to battle Graft vs. Host Disease. She can only work about one day a week and then is left aching the rest of the week. Her mouth, lips, eyes, and many parts of her body end up inflamed and covered in patches of sores as her body tries to deal with having had a bone marrow transplant.

 

Roni, eats incredibly healthy and makes all of her food from scratch and fresh and a lot of it right off of the land she is trying to care for. She and Skook had saved enough money, to build a home that they could retire in someday, and they had begun building that house. Due to this terrible set back, however, the house is far from complete and they are broke. I mean broke enough that they struggle to get the parts to fix the cars, even when Roni is willing to do the work herself. Broke enough to not be able to afford 2x4s and lumber, even though Roni has been building the house mostly by herself, and not paying anyone to build it for them.

 

Roni and Skook have not asked me for any money. I know that they never would, but I know their financial situation and they have accepted my offer to set up a Go Fund Me for them, because they are struggling. I know many people are struggling, if I could afford to help them all on my own, I would, but I can not – however, I know that there are many great people out there still, that in times like these, where things have turned rough for people, through no fault of their own, that good people will donate whatever they can. Even if what they can is only $3 or $5 or $10. I know that eventually it adds up, and will bless Roni and Skook’s lives and the lives of their children.

 

Roni said a short while ago on Social media:

“Well, I’m officially at my high school weight, when my nickname was toothpick. I weigh 126lbs, which means that I’ve lost 52lbs over the past six months. For the most part, it’s due to my graft vs host disease. My mouth is riddled with ulcers, and blisters all of the time. I have to take ridiculous amounts of pain meds, just to be able to eat, and brush my teeth. I’m going to Oahu next month for a PET scan, to find out if I have lymphoma now or not. This needs to stop! — feeling fed up.”

 

I’ve never done a Go Fund Me before, So, I’m not sure what else to say. But PLEASE help this family out in any way you can! These are my friends and are very good, kind people, who are trying and working as hard as they can and know how.