
Patti Armbruster needs our help!
Donation protected
We are fundraising to help Patti Armbruster, who was recently diagnosed with high-risk MDS. We are just learning about this terrible disease, and the outlook is gut-wrenchingly scary. MDS is in the leukemia family, and is a form of blood cancer. Patti started chemotherapy this week, and has a very hard road ahead of her. She needs some financial help while she fights this cancer.
Although it is hard to imagine, Patti continues to work full-time now (when able), despite extreme fatigue and several other challenging symptoms, including shortness of breath, dizziness, anemia, nausea and weakness. She has already had several blood transfusions, and will be needing more in the coming weeks and months. She has always approached life with a positive perspective, has worked hard for everything she has, and, simply put, just does what has to be done. She is constantly finding ways to help others, and now she needs our help.
Over the past 3 months, she has exhausted nearly all her paid time off at her job, and we hope that donations received from this fundraiser will help offset the salary she will be losing when she has chemotherapy treatments and other medical appointments, and for those days that she is too sick to make it in to work. She also has mounting medical bills, and no doubt will be incurring a series of unknown future financial impacts. She is unable to drive now, and is relying on friends and family to help with transportation to work and medical appointments. All of these new costs are in addition to the expenses in a budget that is stretched very thin already.
The goal of her upcoming chemotherapy treatments is to eliminate as many as possible of the damaged or diseased blood cells to make room for healthy cells that will hopefully be introduced via a stem cell transplant in 6 months. This, of course, will only be possible if her body responds well to chemotherapy, if she can avoid infections and the many other possible complications, and if a matching bone marrow donation is available when she is ready for the transplant.
Patti is a loving mother, grandmother, sister, friend, and partner, and has profoundly touched so many of us with her zest for fun and laughter, and her caring and generous spirit. Even today, with this unimaginable and daunting journey ahead of her, she still has a laugh ready to go at any time!
Please help financially if you can. No amount is too small!! Your contributions will help ease a little of the stress and help Patti focus on what matters most: her health. Please also lift Patti up in your thoughts and prayers, and share her story. We will post updates here, and greatly appreciate all support.






Fundraising team (4)

Patsy Messinger
Organizer
St. Petersburg, FL
Patti Town Armbruster
Beneficiary
Colleen Sullivan
Team member
Kelly Terrill
Team member