Laurel Landis - Medical Expenses

UPDATE: Laurel passed away at 2:30 a.m. on Friday, December 15th. If you wish to memorialize her, donations are still open here (and needed). Joe will be grateful for further help with the medical expenses. Also, if you haven't yet bought her book, know that Laurel would be so pleased. You can order it at Ten16 Press, her publisher. Also, you can order it through your favorite independent bookstore. (Yes, you can also order it through Amazon, but Laurel, like many writers would prefer you avoid Amazon due to the harm they have done to the literary world, especially writers.) We're not updating the initial story below -- Laurel wrote it and we just want to leave it as is.

Laurel grew up in Northern Wisconsin. At 20 years old, she moved to New York City where she met her husband Joe at a class at the New School. After class, he asked her for coffee. They knew on that first date that they were meant to be together – and they have been, for 36 years, through thick and thin. After ten years in New York, they moved to Wisconsin so Laurel could be closer to her aging parents.

Laurel has worked as a conference coordinator for a large healthcare company for 30 years, and is also a published author. Joe, a pianist and composer, is a manager/buyer for a chain of health food stores. He has spent many years restoring their Milwaukee fixer-upper, where they still live.

In many ways Laurel and Joe felt like their lives were just beginning. She was looking at a few more years at her job, and retiring to focus on her creative passions, writing and photography. She loves the outdoors and had planned on lots of camping trips in 2023, as well as spending more quality time with Joe.

Then life threw them a curveball – Laurel was diagnosed with bone cancer.

After months of back pain and numbness in her feet, unanswered questions and only guesses at diagnosis, her confidence in the doctors treating her was waning. With the encouragement of some other doctors there, she sought treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where she underwent urgent surgeries to stabilize her bones and had a 5th biopsy. She hoped for a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan. Unfortunately, the diagnosis was what they dreaded – an aggressive sarcoma. On top of that, the trip and stay at Mayo was not covered by her insurance. At this juncture their bills have topped $170 thousand dollars. Financial help to defray the cost of her medical bills will go a long way toward allowing her to focus on helping her body heal and get the help she needs both at home and financially.

Now, Laurel is beginning the process of chemotherapy and working to stay positive so she can have the best possible outcome. She has many more stories to write, photos to make and hikes to take. She is fighting to have a future. Your help will make all the difference.

This fund has been organized by Team Laurel Captains, Pam Parker, Kim Suhr, and Carol Wobig. Anything you can give will be helpful to Laurel and Joe. Thank you in advance for reducing some of the financial strain!