Hello, and thank you for your interest in supporting Cheryl.

I am lucky to have Cheryl Zahajko as my mom. She is a devoted wife of my father, Alejandro, and loving mother of my brother Alex, my sister Tati, and myself, Maria.

My brother Alex lives in Bellingham, pursuing his goals in working in education. He currently works as a Para-educator for the Bellingham School District. My sister Tati is a Sophomore at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon. She is currently kicking ass as a goalkeeper for the Women’s Soccer Team there, as well as pursuing a Bachelor’s in Exercise Science. I have been living at home with my family, helping take care of my mom, our doggies, and overall family wellness (LOL). I hope to return to school soon to finish my Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences.

Back to my Mom, anyone following her story knows she has always gotten the short end of the stick. Since childhood, she has been grasping for normalcy and the overall feeling of good health.

For those who have missed a few chapters–these are just a few of the challenges she has faced, all while being an amazing teacher, mother, wife, friend, caregiver, and beyond:

-Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease since age 11

-In 2000, Cheryl was diagnosed with PSC (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis), an autoimmune disease that causes progressive damage to the liver. At the time, they projected 15 years until she needed a transplant.

-In 2014, Cheryl developed Colon cancer and had her colon removed, along with undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. She kept fighting and continued to live an active life.

-In 2016, Cheryl was diagnosed with CVID (Common Variable Immune Deficiency). This is another rare autoimmune disease diagnosis that only caused further complications.

-In 2021, as her liver began to worsen, she met with UW Medicine and thought that, naturally, they would do the transplant. It was a devastating blow to our family to find out the UW would deny her case due to her immune deficiency. She was instead forced to relocate to New Orleans for six months to receive the needed organ. Due to this and her declining health, Cheryl had to take medical leave in early 2022 and could no longer teach.

-In 2023, Cheryl had a successful liver transplant on May 5th, but complications from the surgery would prevent her from coming home for over six months. An original estimation of 3-6 weeks turned into months without seeing her family and friends.

We all hoped that the transplant would be the beginning of a peaceful recovery. She started showing signs that she was making her way back to solid health. She was able to tend to the yard & garden just as her own mom loved to, she adored feeding the local critters (squirrels, raccoons, etc), exercising, and playing lots of pickleball.

Despite the various health hiccups she dealt with for two years, things had been steady and improving. Leading up to November of 2025, when things took a turn for the worse. My parents had just hosted a Halloween Party, dressed as the Flintstones, with our precious neighbors, the Shorts. Life seemed to feel somewhat normal again.

Soon after this, my mom started to feel pains in her abdomen. My mom, as per usual, powered through the pain. It wasn’t until the end of December that things got noticeably more intense. I took my Mom to urgent care and the ER several times until she was admitted long-term, only to receive more confusing answers. Several doctors assured us there wasn’t cancer, just some other unknown reason for fluid buildup in her abdomen on top of major pain in several parts of her body. Scans of certain lymph nodes came back clear, and struggles with insurance only led to a backlog of testing and even more confusion. After finally pushing for a final PET Scan of her GI Tract, answers were found.

It was in January 2025 that my mom and family received the heartbreaking news that she was diagnosed with not just cancer of the bile ducts of the liver, but that it was metastatic. Her specific diagnosis was cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer), stage 4 (spread through her lymph nodes). Out of 60 or so days of December and January, she was in the hospital for over 50 of those due to severe pain and fluid buildup.

Her current plan of treatment is 6 rounds of a chemotherapy medication called FOLFOX. She has done two rounds so far, but they wipe her out every time. She is supremely nauseous, lacking nutrients, losing weight, and suffering in pain. She is forever a fighter and will get through this with our support.

My mom has spent her life fighting one health crisis after another, never giving up. Now, it is our turn to fight for her. The goal is to ease the financial pressure on my family so we can focus entirely on her treatment and comfort.

My mom and family are still paying off significant medical bills from her previous life-saving treatments in New Orleans. Any help is appreciated as we navigate insurance to secure the necessary oncology treatments for her. My mom has been on disability for years, and my father, Alejandro, is the main source of income to help support my mother and family. My sister is in college pursuing her educational goals, and any support that eases the stress of those payments also helps my family immensely.

Any donation, no matter the size, will go directly toward medical bills, daily living expenses, and ensuring our family remains stable during this time. If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing this page with your network and keeping Cheryl in your thoughts and prayers.

Please don’t donate if you can’t or if you are spread thin. Many of you have already given so much to our family, and we so appreciate all the words of support and prayers. We are always empowered by this amazing community that spans the globe. We will absolutely pay it forward.

Thank you for your kindness, your generosity, and for standing with my mom, Cheryl.