Support Heather Gautschi's Fight Against Cancer

Dear Friends,

It’s an honor to be sending out this request for support for one of the kindest, most creative and beautiful human beings I know, Heather Gautschi.

As you may have heard, Heather is currently battling a rare and aggressive form of cancer. In November, after about six weeks of experiencing pain, fatigue and a general feeling that something was not right, Heather received an initial diagnosis of Stage 4 Diffuse large b-cell Lymphoma. She had her first chemotherapy treatment and responded amazingly well (but this is Heather we’re talking about, so of course she did amazingly well). But just two weeks after her first round of chemo, some additional pathology work revealed that Heather has a different type of cancer, Burkitt Lymphoma. It’s a rare form of the disease, and even more so to have it solely within the bone marrow, which is Heather’s case. With the new diagnosis, Heather’s treatment plan has dramatically changed. Because this cancer is so aggressive, instead of receiving chemotherapy for eight hours once every three weeks, her chemo sessions will now be 96 hours long, every two weeks. From now through mid-April, Heather will stay in the hospital for 4 days at a time, twice a month to receive treatment. Her first hospital stay begins this week.

Throughout this overwhelming process, Heather is staying incredibly positive. She and Patrick have been reassured that this cancer responds well to treatment and that she will make a full recovery. Heather’s current plan is to continue to work full-time throughout her treatments, but the reality is that she may end up not feeling well enough to do so and would need to take time off. Because she’s a contract worker she will not be paid for any time that she's unable to work. Donations to this fund will help Heather and Patrick get through the times when their income is impacted, as well as help to offset medical costs, travel costs, potential childcare costs and anything else that comes along during the next few months.

Heather is the brightest of lights. She’s an amazing mother, artist, athlete and friend. She possesses the most generous of spirits and gives so much love to everyone around her. Let’s help take some of the burden from Heather and her beautiful family by contributing to this fund. No donation is too small, every bit is hugely appreciated. Thank you for showing Heather, Patrick, Harper and Holton your love and support!

With gratitude,

Jennifer Nyman Julia (long time friend of Heather’s)