Linda and the Lingles fight Leukemia
On January 26th, Linda Lingle had a blood panel to see why she wasn't able to get over a sinus infection. She was told to go to the ER and pretty immediately diagnosed with Leukemia, additionally a huge complication of pneumonia was discovered on top of this situation.
For the past week, Linda has been fighting for her life at Hershey Medical Center to beat the pneumonia and be able to begin treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia. AML starts in the bone marrow , but most often it quickly moves into the blood, as well. It can sometimes spread to other parts of the body. Linda's doctors are quickly trying to determine her best course of treatment so that she can fight but we don't have a lot of answers about what lies ahead yet.
Linda and her wife Emily have been working at home and schooling their young 7 year old son, Anderson from home since the COVID pandemic began in March of last year. The pandemic puts additional strain on this situation because Linda's immune system is already significantly compromised and will continue to be through her treatements, requiring significant precautions and extended isolation for safety.
Enter Linda Silberman...She is a dear friend of Linda Lingle's since high school. Linda S. is a classically trained Chef, a Shamanic Practitioner and basically a professional nurturer. Our families have stayed in touch and helped each other out through tough times and fallout from medical crisis before. But this time is a little different, and much closer to home.
Linda S. has been living in New Mexico and lost her job due to the COVID pandemic and has been trying to find another opportunity that is low/zero exposure risk, (not an easy task right now). She has graciously offered to move across the country and stay with the Lingles for an extended time, so that they may be able to bring Linda L. home, continue her treatments and care for her in a low exposure environment. This is such a monumental offering of support that is so essential for our family right now, and will be for the foreseeable future. We honestly don't know how we would do this without her.
Her support will allow Emily to continue working and Anderson to continue school from home as Linda L. begins her long road to recovery. We have gotten so much support already in the form of meal donations, loving words of encouragement and prayers, help with dog walking, and snow shoveling. The Lingles want to be able to support Linda S. so that she can support us over these next few months.
She still has her own medical supplies and personal utilities to cover, as well as the trek across country and storage for all her belongings. We are hoping that some financial support to get her here and help cover her expenses for a few months will ease the additional strain, especially as her unemployment support ended in November. The earliest she can get affairs in order and relocate is mid-February, but resources to manage that and get her here are already needed.
We have a lot of uncertainty ahead and many friends and family, especially those far away right now have asked how they can help. Here's how:
1 - Please consider contributing to this fund to support Linda S. so she can help us. We don't want this selfless act to result in any sort of financial burden. We also understand these are tough times and we are only asking for donations from those who can comfortably afford it right now. If you can't, do not worry, there are other ways to help...
2- Donate blood. There's shortages everywhere due to the pandemic. Linda L. has needed transfusions pretty much every day and she may continue to need them through treatment. They are critical for her survival. We are working on figuring out the best way to guide others through the donation process so it can directly benefit Linda L. as much as possible. Please stay tuned for more on that soon...
3 - Pray and send us all the good vibes and encouragement. We have high hopes for a full recovery and we are trying to stay so positive in the face of fear and give our family the best possible chance at a happy healthy future together. Stand with us as we prepare to FIGHT LIKE HELL!
I will keep updating here sometimes, but for more detailed info on Linda Lingle's status, please check regularly: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lindalingle/
I am endlessly grateful for all of the support we have received, and will need in the future. We love you and your willingness to help.
