Help Christine Fight Cancer and Stay Strong

Hi friends! We are Sydney and Michelle, and we are fundraising to help our dear friend Christine Aguba Risch with her medical expenses. We hope you can join us in supporting Chris, her husband Matt, and her child Kai.

If you have ever met Christine, you know that she is one of the most generous, kind, creative, and FUN people in the world. Chris is our personal Disney adult and knows allll the shortcuts and best ways to enjoy Disneyland! She's our concert buddy. She's got "big oldest sister" energy and puts her own needs behind everyone else's. Chris is one of those people whose creative mind has opened doors into the worlds of art and design, music, film and literature, and most of all, cultivating a love for life amidst major challenges.

Chris was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PNeT, a form of carcinoid cancer) in early 2011, just one month after Kai was born. Over the following years, Chris was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer and invasive adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung. Chris has undergone multiple surgeries (one of them took 11 and 1/2 hours to complete!) to address these various issues. Most recently her medical team is tracking a potential issue with her kidney.

Fast forward to the present day, and a drug called Sandostatin is now the only treatment available for Chrissie's neuroendocrine tumor, and has the potential of warding off other cancers. Sandostatin is an every-three-weeks injection which leaves Chris unable to function or work during the week that she receives it-- but it has enabled her to not only stay alive, but to watch Kai grow up and enjoy her time with her dear family and friends.

For several years, Chris received healthcare coverage through Medi-Cal (the California Medicaid program) which fully covered all of her healthcare needs. However, a positive income change in the last year disqualified Chris and her family from receiving Medi-Cal.

It feels so unfair to be *just* over the line of income to qualify for Medi-Cal coverage, but thankfully Chris and fam were able to enroll in a new health plan through the Affordable Care Act.

Now Chris is faced with new challenges due to her new health care coverage. For the first time in years, the family are now required to pay a monthly premium plus co-payments for specialized care.

As we're sure many of you have experienced in your own/your loved one's lives, Chris and her family are struggling to pay the insurance monthly premiums as well as the co-payments for her Sandostatin.

The monthly premium is $900 a month, her yearly deductible is $12,000, and before insurance kicks in, Sandostatin is $27,000 (then the copayment runs from $5,000-$7,000 for a SINGLE injection.)

*Without her Sandostatin treatment every three weeks, it's highly likely that Chris's current cancers could worsen and new cancers could arise*

With deep gratitude we are asking your assistance to support Chris and her family with these expenses. Even though Chris has 3 biological sisters, we know that she has MANY more chosen siblings, cousins, and friends who think the world of her and are grateful to know her and be invited into her circle.

And like so many oldest sisters, it's been a challenge for Chris to ask for help. So we are doing it for her. No donation is too small, and every dollar helps! Let's come together for Chris!