Help Sarah Slikker Beat Cancer!

This is Sarah, with whom I share part of a brain. You see, though we are very different, we share many of the same ridiculous thoughts that only she has the courage to blurt out, at which point I fall to the floor laughing and then pray in gratitude for knowing her. Her smile SLAYS me. Oh, and she is  LITERALLY the bravest person I know.

Recently, in the midst of making several deeply profound changes in her life (none of which I would have had the courage or strength to do), she learned that her breast cancer returned, five years after a double mastectomy. She will need to  undergo  chemo and radiation in the coming months. 

Here is a person who has been through SO MUCH in her life (not just cancer), meeting every challenge with grace, humor and humility, who has been given YET ANOTHER obstacle to overcome. (WTF, God?!!)  I am pretty darn sure Sarah is Wonder Woman, but she needs our help right now.

Let me tell you a little more about Sarah. She’ll be the first to admit that as a young woman, she made some bad choices, but at the age of 30, she got sober and turned her life around. As  a single mom of two, she put herself through college, graduating from UCSB at the top of her class as a “non-traditional” student. She then went on to obtain her Master’s degree. Three years in to her sobriety, she began sponsoring other women in recovery, which she continues to do now,  15 years and counting. With her Master’s, she went on to become a social worker, first working with Veterans, and then working with our vulnerable elderly population. She was recently promoted to a supervisor at the Department of Social Services where she is well-liked and respected for her dedication to her work, her honesty and her compassion.  On her own journey of healing, she learned the art of Reiki to help others heal, and, in “all her spare time,” (wink wink) she began to paint -- quite beautifully, I might add. (You can see some of her paintings at the end of this post!) 

Sarah is someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty at work, in her recovery program and with her family and friends. I do not know how she finds the time to do everything she does. She’s even trying to figure out how she can continue working while undergoing chemo and radiation, not just because she will need the income, but because she doesn’t like to burden others or let anyone down.  Anyone who knows what it takes to beat cancer knows that she will have to slow down and focus 200% on her healing. That is why she needs our help.

Sarah will have many expenses in the coming months. Once she has used up all of her sick days and vacation days at work, she will  go on State Disability which only pays 60-70% of her salary. We all know that people don’t go into social work for the “big bucks.” Let’s just say that neither do social work supervisors.  She will have the  additional costs for her treatment: co-pays and deductibles for the chemo and radiation, as well as large out-of-pocket expenses for supplemental Naturopathic treatments which are not covered by her insurance and therapy. Sarah's prognosis is good, but  she must utilize every tool available to her to meet this second major challenge to her physical, mental and spiritual well-being. 

Sarah is now living alone in Ventura. While she has support from friends in Ventura,  her support system is primarily in Santa Barbara. I can’t fathom having to fend for myself in the midst of chemo and radiation treatments. She hesitates to ask much of family and friends, many of whom work full time or live  far to easily drop in to see how she is doing. She hasn’t even considered that she may need to hire a caregiver on her bad days. This is yet another expense she could need help with

I’ve had the pure delight of knowing Sarah for six years and I can say she is one-of-a-kind. Indeed, the world desperately needs more people like her.  Please know that if you are able and willing to contribute to her Beat Cancer plan, you will be helping someone who has always and will always “pay it forward”  to the very best of her ability, which is considerable. 

Thank you SO much for anything you can give. We know these are hard times. 

Sarah, we love you! YOU GOT THIS!

Your friend, 

Jamie G.

Some of Sarah's Paintings ...