Hey Family, This will be a long one, so I will mark lines from the beginning of the details to the end and if you would like to just skip to what we are asking, please feel free to do so, but if you do not know the extend of what we have been going through, please take the time to read our story.

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Amber, Christy, and Trevor here. As most of you know 2024 was the hardest year for us, not only individually, but collectively as a family. It started in January when Kiba, Trevor's 18 year old cat, who has always been more than a cat -- he's Trevor's son, his soul mate, his best friend -- was rushed to the Emergency Vet in the middle of the night. Trevor could feel something wrong in his abdomen. The vet was able to give him fluids, keep him for observation, and do blood tests. They found that Kiba's spleen was over twice its normal size. The vet suspected cancer (without any real reason, which is such an awful thing to say to such a worried parent, but I digress). Thankfully the blood work came back a few days later and it showed no cancer. He had a bone infection, however, so we were sent home with IV fluids to give him, as well as a round of heavy antibiotics. What we did not know at the time, but quickly discovered, was he picked up ringworm at the ER Vet. So... that was fun. So we spent weeks treating the infection, his dehydration, and a nasty case of ringworm (which spread to both Amber and Christy, and Christy's kitty Momo).

Then we move into "Oh Fuck, What Now? February" with Christy's mom Karen being rushed by ambulance to the ER because she was gasping for air. What we (and the doctors) all thought was just a bad bout of pneumonia and an upper respiratory infection turned into interstitial lung disease (ILD) which was caused by her chemotherapy treatments after beating cancer twice. After spending 2 weeks in the ICU she was moved to Barlow Respiratory Hospital at Valley Presbyterian in Van Nuys.

She spent just over 2 months there. She came home on home hospice on May 7. Christy and Amber were there with her as much as possible. Amber abruptly left work the next morning just to drive over to make sure Karen had taken her morning medication. She came back with Christy during Ambers lunch, and returned again as soon as she was off work. Around 8pm May 9 things started to get bad. Amber called Trevor who was at home and asked him to jump into an uber ASAP and get to mom's house. Trevor did not hesitate and he was there, along with Christy and Amber to hold Karen's hand as she took her final breaths. Christy went full force trying to help her mom, switching her seemlessly from the oxygen compressors to a tank, and also giving her a dose of morphine (which helps with oxygen absorption, as well as pain and anxiety) but it was not enough. Her passing was sudden, and shocking, and broke all of us. She may be Christy's biological mom, but she was mom to all of us. I don't think we ever called her anything but mom. The next few weeks we spent cleaning out mom's things and trying to get all of her affairs in order. Christy had to go formally identify her moms body 2 weeks after her death. Amber went with her and both had a second chance to say goodbye. For months the three of us slept together on our couch. For those of you who know our couch, know how we can convert it to a giant bed, perfect for cuddle puddles. That is exactly what we did. We were each others support, and we each needed the others like never before. In June we received mom's death certificate and along with it came another devastating blow. The direct cause of death showed that her cancer was back in her lung. (in 2021 she beat colon cancer, then in 2022 her colon cancer came back metastasizing in her lung, requiring part of her left lobe removed, and another round of chemo, in 2023 she was declared in remission). She didn't tell anybody the cancer was back. We had no idea. She suffered with that secret alone. I know it was to spare us from the pain, but we wish she would have said something so she didn't feel alone with it.

We never had quite enough money to pay for a proper funeral, but we planned on giving mom a nice wake at our home on moms birthday, September 9, but 2024 had other plans and after avoiding it for 4 years, we all got COVID. I wish that was the last thing 2024 was going to hit us with.

Going back a bit, to just a few weeks after losing mom, we noticed our shower had backed up and was filling with raw sewage. It was something we had dealt with in the past, and knew we would have to deal with again. It is a $100 band-aid that we pay every year or so because fixing the problem all together just wasn't an option. Well, of course its 2024, so naturally it wouldn't be just the same problem. The $100 fix turned into a $1200 fix. Okay, not ideal, but if it fixes it, we will figure it out. Then they had to dig up part of our front yard. Then another part. Then we got the news they would have to replace all the piping from the house to the street. It was all original pipes from when the house was built in 1969. The pipes were eroded, bent, and some had tree roots growing right through them. Without much notice we had to get the cats and find a hotel to stay in for at least 5 days. They had to cut up some carpet and jackhammer through the stone slab the house sits on. The pipes beneath the house ran right under Christy's bedroom. We moved everything out of that room before leaving and we were assured they were going to hang plastic sheeting to protect our stuff from getting dust. They... didn't work. Everything -- and i mean everything -- had concrete dust. Of course they also found a new problem which required us to stay 2 more nights in the hotel. 10 days and $42,000 later the pipes were fixed. Thankfully we did not have to pay that price tag, but we did pay over $1300 for a hotel room for a week. Thankfully Christy's uncle came to re-tile and re-install the toilets, and Trevor's step-dad was wonderful enough to come up and help put the carpet that had been cut up back together.

During the grief of losing mom, 2024 decided to throw yet more shit into our fan and refocus it's asshole intentions back to Kiba. He just was not acting right. He was more lethargic, was not eating as much as he used to (and for those who know Kiba knows how he has proudly earned his nickname Fatty) and Trevor just knew -- call it fatherly instincts -- something wasn't right. Kiba was rushed to the Emergency Vet again when he refused food and water and had trouble using the litter box, and there was a noticeable swelling in his face. More fluids and more anti-biotics were given, along with more bloodwork. When we got him home we were able to make him an appointment with is regular vet (who is incredible). Over the next 6 weeks, that vets office was like a second home. We found that Kiba had a major abscess in his teeth which required surgery to extract 3 teeth. Being 18 years old any surgery can be risky, but Kiba is the champiest champion to ever Champ. He healed up well after surgery and started to eat again, learning how to chew on the one side of his mouth. His follow-ups looked good and his vet was pleasantly surprised with how quickly he was healing.

During one of the later appointments Kiba's bloodwork did show signs of cancer, and after a biopsy Kiba was diagnosed with lymphoma. He was still dealing with ringworm, and from all the vet visits had also gotten fleas after our home was completely flea free for over 3 years. It was the most difficult thing to see our sweet boy go through all of the challenges 2024 was throwing his way. Amber had to leave for a month to dog and housesit for some very close friends in Reno which had been planned months in advance and it was not something she could get out of. Christy was there for Trevor as much as she could be. Trevor did not leave Kiba's side for a minute. We asked Kiba to hold on, and he tried as hard as he could, but it just got too hard for him and he let us know he was ready. Trevor made the single most difficult decision of his life, but it was also one of the most self-sacrificing, most loving decisions he could make. He called his retired vet step-dad Bill to come over to the house, and help Kiba make his way over the rainbow bridge. Christy, Bill, and Thal were all by Trevor and Kiba's side with Amber was there via FaceTime. Afterwards Christy drove everybody up to lay Kiba to rest next to Amber's sweet Cujo.

All of these things transpired from January through November -- right up to spending our first holidays without our mom and our sweet Kiba. It is now January 2025: Christy is still dealing with the affairs of her moms. Bills have been negotiated down, some forgiven entirely, but many of them have not. Back taxes were owed for the years her mom was fighting cancer and did not file. The GoFundMe she had set up was a Godsend which helped pay the immediate costs of cremation, urn, settling accounts that were urgent, and allowing her to take a single week off work (because her job does not give PTO nor paid bereavement leave). She has had little time to just sit and grieve without the thought of bills. She has taken care of everything herself. Amber and Trevor are still paying off the thousands and thousands of dollars worth of vet bills. All three of us have tried to champion through all of this but it has taken an extensive toll on our mental health, which -- let's be real -- wasn't really in tip-top shape to begin with.

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Those of you who know the three of us know that while we will jump through flaming hoops to help those we love, asking for help has never come easy. We have been silently sitting in a pit of anxiety, convincing ourselves we can do this on our own. We still want to believe that. We just don't know how to anymore. 2024 was an avalanche of perpetual bullshit that broke us down. It drained all of our savings accounts. Christy has maxed credit cards and an overdrawn checking account. Collectively our credit scores have dropped over 120 points. Trying to make ends meet paycheck to paycheck was working for a while, but the medical bills, both human and feline, have started making that impossible. We are managing to find ways to keep our noses above water, but the anchors still tied around our ankles, and every day we sit in this ocean of anxiety knowing if another storm comes our way, we have no life raft. So, keeping with that metaphor, this is our signal flare. This is us swallowing our pride and asking for help. Anything you can give would be appreciated more than we could ever articulate with words. Please do not give anything unless you are in a position where you are able. We have only been able to get through these hard times because of the love of our friends and our chosen family. We love an appreciate you all.

Money raised here will be divided between the three of us. The shame we feel needing this help is also divided equally.