hope for almaz.

I realize everybody is asking everybody to donate to something.

This woman does not know I'm doing this. I'm not even sure she would forgive me if she did. But I cannot do this on my own. So here I am; asking you for help. Let me tell you a little bit about this wonderfully strong, special woman.

She's a mother of three grown kids and two young grandchildren. And when I say she's a mother to her grandchildren, I mean she does everything for them- despite the fact that she doesn't have custody and is receiving no financial help for them. She takes care of them without complaint. They live with her- a 3 year old and 6 year old. They adore her so much that they cannot handle one night away from her without having to be taken home. She is so loyal to these babies that this last week she had a major surgery- but before she drove herself to the hospital she had her grandson on the bus with his back pack and lunch in hand. In the midst of making sure he was fully ready for school, she forgot her own bag of things she wanted to bring to the hospital with her.

Which brings me to her medical concerns. About a month ago, she had a major surgery to have a tumor removed from her colon. When she was fully healed from that, she had to go back in this last week, on the 27th, to have her ovaries removed where more tumors were growing. (Side note: she was rushed to the hospital a week before and diagnosed with pneumonia; the doctors argued the risks of still performing the surgery but due to the severity of the rapidly growing tumors in her ovaries decided to move forward.) At the hospital, she and I spoke to a pulmonary doctor who informed me that there is a hole in her right lung that seems to have an infection growing in it. The doctor said they will not be able to treat this infection until she is fully healed from this last procedure. As you can see, this has turned into an exhausting (emotionally and physically) cycle. As soon as she feels better, she's in the hospital again.

And to top all of that off, she is no longer employed. She was not able to continue working as she has been in and out of the hospital and then on bed rest while she heals. Unfortunately, she was employed through a friends daycare who couldn't "afford" to honor her absence after years of loyal employment and she was not provided insurance through this company. She was denied unemployment but is in the process of appealing.

To summarize: she is the sole caregiver to a 3 year old and 6 year old with little to no help, she's experiencing extreme and very serious medical issues, is on the verge of losing her and the babies home, and doesn't have any source of income at the moment.

But the most important thing is her strength. I wish I could tell you more about her strength...all the horrible things she has overcome in the course of her life. But I want to make sure that if you don't remember any of this story- you remember this: she has never once complained. She is the one telling me "everything is going to be okay." She tells me she knows it's not her time to go, that God has brought her through this much and she trusts He has more good things in store for her. She has taught me about faith, she has taught me what it means to be grateful, she has taught me what it looks like to be humble, and she has taught me how to keep fighting.

I don't have a donation goal. I don't have any expectations. I'm going to ask you to donate if you can, and pray if you can't. I wish I could do this on my own, but what an important reminder that I wasn't made to, and neither was she.

Any money we gather will be to help her cover medical costs, groceries, bills, gas, clothes for the kids, etc.

So again, please donate if you can and pray if you can't. I am beyond grateful for anything you can offer her, and I know she will be overwhelmingly grateful to you as well.

Thank you,

Kaitlyn