Hi family, friends, and anyone else this may reach.

My name is Shelby Foakes, I’m one of three daughters to my beautiful mom Christy. As some of you may know, my mom has been battling multiple autoimmune disorders for the last 15 years that has compromised her health. A little over a month ago things took a turn for the worst and my mom was airlifted to CPMC in San Francisco due to an infection in her picc line. She was in the ICU for over a week as the doctors tried to diagnose what was making her so sick. It was then discovered that she had a serious infection in her blood, also known as sepsis. She was on an aggressive form of IV antibiotics that was supposed to treat the infection entirely. She was then discharged and placed in an outpatient facility to finish her antibiotic treatment. Just when we thought she was starting to recover at home, she began to lose her appetite and started to run a fever again. My dad rushed her back to the hospital on November 12th and she was immediately admitted. Soon after that, we found out that not only did the infection return, but it had spread to her heart. After multiple tests, the doctors confirmed that her heart was rapidly spreading the bacteria to different locations in her body. After a difficult discussion with her doctors and our family, we came to a mutual understanding that the only option in order to treat her infection would be open heart surgery. With this surgery, it will replace her valves that have been damaged from the infection. This news was extremely hard to take knowing how extensive the surgery and recovery will be for her. Due to the circumstances, my dad who is the sole provider, has been unable to work and has chosen to take the time off to spend every moment possible with my mom during this horrific time.

To know our mom is to love her. She is the strongest and most selfless person you could ever meet. We created this fundraiser in hopes to alleviate some financial hardship off our family during this time. Any help is greatly appreciated and it means so much to my family and I as we navigate through this hard time. Please keep our mom in your prayers.

Love,

The Foakes Family