Support Jean and Laura’s Family Through Cancer Treatment

On October 9, 2024 after a challenging journey that began with what seemed like diverticulitis, I received a life-changing diagnosis: stage IIc colon cancer. What started as an abscess discovered during an ER visit in August turned out to be an aggressive tumor, resulting in emergency surgery to remove 7 inches of my colon and a portion of my small bowel.

I am in the thick of making decisions and attending appointments to find the right oncologist and treatment center. Soon I will be starting 4-6 months of chemotherapy, with treatments every other week. While I'm approaching this journey with faith and optimism, our family is facing significant financial challenges that I'm humbly asking for help with.

Our family has always made it work with Jean as our sole provider while I stay home with our four children, whom I homeschool. Recently, I had started a part-time job to help cover our new van payments, help with monthly bills, and allow for more family activities, but my ability to work during treatment will be very limited. I hope to be able to work a little throughout treatment, but I have not been able to return to work yet, and it is likely I may only be able to work every other week outside of chemo weeks. 

The situation has become more challenging because Jean doesn't receive paid time off, and he's already had to take significant unpaid leave to care for our family during my hospitalization and ongoing medical appointments.

Specific Needs:

Basic Living Expenses: We've fallen slightly behind on regular bills due to lost wages and medical expenses.

Medical Support: My doctor has recommended supplemental treatments to support my immune system and minimize chemotherapy side effects, which aren't covered by insurance.

Home Issues: We also discovered some issues in our home shortly before this all began that need to be dealt with in order to host friends or family who are willing to come and stay with us to help out while I'm undergoing treatment. If we could address these issues and open up the possibility of people staying in our home occasionally, this would allow Jean to work at times instead of staying home to take care of me or the kids.

Some of this may sound vague, and that is because many of these issues are very vulnerable for me! However, I am an open book one-on-one, and anyone who wants to contact me personally to ask for clarity about any of the things mentioned, please do! You are welcome to message me and chat.

My faith remains strong through this challenge. God has always provided for our family, and we're already deeply grateful for the meals and gift cards we've received from our caring community! We're not asking anyone to shoulder our entire burden, but rather hoping that those who feel called to help can contribute what they are able.

For those who would like to help:

You can contribute through this GoFundMe or if you would prefer, I have Venmo (@Laura-Hickman-41) or Cashapp ($Jeaniisgirl). You can also help by sharing this far and wide, with those in your life who you think may be inclined to help out either monetarily or by praying alongside us though this journey. Feel free to share and get this link circulating on your social media pages as well, Facebook, Instagram, etc!

If you'd like more specific information about our situation or needs, please feel free to message me directly. You can reach me via Facebook messenger or text. I'm happy to have one-on-one conversations about any aspects of this journey.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! Your prayers, support, and shared hope mean more than I can express in words!