My momma, Cheryl Hendricks is one of a kind and right now she needs our love and support. Both of my folks have spent their lives in dedication to their communities and to making the world a better place. They are servants at heart and as such have always found themselves in positions or professions that don't offer legitimate financial compensation for the tremendously important work they do. This said, my family has found itself in a bit of a pickle and we are inviting your love and support. Here goes:

My dear brother, Corey, lives outside of Denver in Colorado and has just (only a few weeks ago) welcomed his first child into the world. Last Sunday, my mom and pop flew out to meet their first grandchild and by Tuesday night my mom was rushed to the local ER. She was immediately put on oxygen (as the pain and severe infection had made her oxygen drop to 88%) and plenty of fluids and antibiotics. Within hours she was transported by ambulance to a larger teaching hospital in Denver to have emergency surgery to stop the sepsis that had been evolving in and around her colon from taking her from us. This surgery was successful. They removed significant abscesses and infection from her abdominal wall. Apparently, her case was rare and complicated enough that she has been used as an important teaching tool for the residents in her rotation this week. Over the past few days the goal has been to find the right antibiotics to bring her white blood cell count down enough to proceed with a secondary surgery to remove her Sigmoid Colon. We learned last night that this had occurred and she was cleared and scheduled to have a robotic procedure tomorrow morning. We are tremendously grateful to all involved in her care. Denver Health is proving to be a very special place where people go above and beyond to do the right thing when it comes to true care.

So tomorrow, there will be surgery number 2, and then we will know more of what is to come. In the meantime, we have, as a family, begun to incur some significant expenses. She will not be able to travel immediately and will need lodging, etc. for the next few weeks after being discharged from hospital but still not cleared to travel home. That said, we are grateful she's ended up in an incredible teaching hospital with what seems to be the perfect surgical team. She feels safe and cared for and for that I am so grateful.

I know nobody has any dang money right now, so all this is tricky. The thing I've said over and over is that I don't want anyone to help us financially if it will create any burden at all for them, but I'm hoping by being transparent and asking, I might just be connected with the right folks who would feel moved to help ease our burden without adding to their own.

I've been thinking this through like this: Generosity is one of my 3 core values. If I am unable to be generous with my time, energy, or resources, I just don't feel like myself. I know how important it is to me to be able to support my people when they need me. I know how it warms my heart to give what I can to those I love. Soooo, in this moment, my family and I are trying to swallow our pride and allow others to care for us.

So initially, we are asking for anything you might share now to help us manage these initial expenses. Everything helps! I have set the goal higher than you might imagine we'd need because we still have no idea what these medical bills are going to look like and I don't want to limit generosity.

We are already so very grateful for all the love and support we are receiving and thank you for considering us in your charitable giving.

Holding your heart in mine,

Jess