My mother Allison (Brinkerhoff) Miksenas

As many of you already know, my mother has been diagnosed with Head and Neck cancer. Her cancer began in her tonsil and spread to the lymph nodes in her neck. While the prognosis is excellent (85% curable) the treatment is still extremely tough, painful, and time consuming.

Everyone who knows Allison knows how selfless, caring, funny, and genuine she is. When she forms friendships, they last a lifetime because of how she touches the lives of everyone she meets. For those of you that may not know her, imagine a nicer and more outgoing version of me!

My mother rarely asks for help and didn't even want me reaching out to all of you; but Allison is going to be out of work for about six months and while most people have savings for situations like this, we don't. There will be six months worth of car payments, cell phone bills, and rent that we will struggle to pay... in addition to the superior childcare she helps me with weekly. I've looked into both Social Security and short-term disability, but since she is self-employed she is ineligible.

If anyone is in a position to contribute financial that would be amazing. Any amount from $5 to $5000 would be seriously helpful. If not, that ok too - you can sent my mum prayers, positive vibes and an occasional casserole (for us, since she can't swallow). If anyone is near Nashua, NH and wants to get my kids off the bus one day during the week so I can stay at work that would be great too.

Thank you reading this message, I know it's long and doesn't even capture all I want to say. Feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions.