Linda's Last Chance

My beautiful sister, Linda Oliver, is running out of time. And I desperately want to help her, so I decided to try this.

Linda was diagnosed with Primary Lymphedema in 2020, a hereditary and degenerative disease that slowly and painfully fills her legs with fluid that doesn’t drain. Until recently, it was incurable, and even now, only a small percentage of people can be saved by surgery if it is performed early and if the patient has the right kind of lymphedema and meets all the requirements for candidacy.

Linda, pre-COVID, successfully met all the requirements and was placed on a waiting list—admittedly, a long waiting list—but at least she was ON it.

Then COVID hit. And all elective surgeries were cancelled. The waitlist remained static.

Nobody had the operation; nobody got a chance at a normal life.

And Linda’s ‘within three years’ timeframe is now down to one, and she’s still at the back of a very long waitlist. Her only hope is to go for surgery in the US, where the cost of the surgery alone—never mind the pre-appointments and flights—is USD 60,000…almost 80,000 Canadian dollars.

Linda is a wonderful, caring mom of two young children: Tyson (10) and Reese (8). Despite constant pain, she attends (and participates in) karate lessons with them because they both want her to. She rides annually in the Cycle Challenge to raise money for kids’ cancer…never mind that it hurts her and our entire family anxiously advises against it. But that’s just Lin. She knows a little girl who is fighting cancer, so she refuses to stop trying to help, no matter the personal cost.

The swelling in Linda’s legs forces her to wear compression socks 24/7 and sleep with a foam slab under her legs to drain lymphatic fluid. She exercises through pain daily to stay in the shape she has to stay in to qualify for the operation, so every day brings heightened pain. And she never complains.

Lin had managed to save 10k towards the cost of the operation, but then the roots of the large maple tree in front of her house blew through her septic system and her savings.

I can hear the clock ticking. I keep googling terrifying images online of advanced lymphedema, and they make me scream. There are only two outcomes for Lin if she doesn’t get the surgery: one, a slow and painful crippling process leading to the rest of her life in a wheelchair, and the second—unthinkable—death.

My hope is that many people can spare just a little, and that enough could be raised to get my Linny to a life-saving operation.

Please help if you are able.

In return, I offer the only thing I can offer: my undying gratitude.

Thank you for reading.

I hope you have a wonderful (and healthy) day,

Cheers,

Kelly Oliver