Support Jennifer's Dream Trips

This is for my daughter, Jennifer Carson. She is the bravest person I know, for it takes no courage to do the things you are not afraid to do. Real courage is going ahead and doing the things that terrify you. She has faced a lifetime of chronic illness due to an underlying genetic disorder, Neurofibromatosis, with endless surgeries and procedures, all while going to school, finishing her college degree, and even serving her country through AmeriCorps. She volunteered with her local theatre company, worked full-time through her first bout with breast cancer, and adopted shelter animals. Against all odds, she has reached the age of forty.

Jennifer is facing her third battle with metastatic breast cancer with grace and dignity. While she knows that she is terminally ill and that a cure is not in the cards, she continues to plan all the fun things she would like to do with the time she has left. You see, Jen spends most of her time looking forward. She has her tough moments; they shatter my heart, but she dries her tears, hugs me, and says, “What fun trip should we take next, Mom?” We are asking for your help so Jennifer may take as many fun trips as she can with the time she has left, be they small or virtual, bigger or local.

Jennifer wept when she had to leave her place of employment and go on disability. She cried a bit when she could no longer drive. She sometimes wonders what it would have been like to have a career, have a child, have what looks like a more normal life. But, as we say in our home, define normal. We will make our own normal, find what we love.

So, for Jennifer, it’s traveling to new places, experiencing life outside of her immediate world. All through long hours of treatment, weeks in the hospital, days in bed, she plans trips and excursions, dreams of all the places she would visit and people she would meet.

While Jennifer isn’t able to take extended or exotic trips, we would love more than anything to take her on as many shorter trips as possible in the time she has left.

What would some of these look like? She wants to see Joshua Tree and stay in a quirky Airbnb. She talks of seeing a glacier. She told me she would like to swim in the ocean one more time, going somewhere warmer. One summer we tried to go to Crater Lake but couldn’t due to wildfires, so that is still on the list. She has a list of local things to still see and do here in San Francisco like afternoon tea at Filoli Gardens, a night at the science museum, among many others. 

As always, Jennifer continues to look for a solution and said she would love to have virtual reality goggles to visit exotic places. Things add up quickly. It becomes expensive, but we know we will carry amazing memories with us always. We have taken her on a few short trips but need to save our resources for the many needs not covered for Jennifer. The outside expenses for medical care are enormous and have strained us financially for many years. During Jennifer’s most recent hospitalization we were asked if we could self pay for an ongoing treatment at 10k per infusion as it wasn’t covered inpatient, but she was too sick to come home. 

There are so many touching stories I would love to share about Jennifer, especially those that have taught me so much about life. I will update this as I am able. Here is one. The first time Jennifer had breast cancer she lost handfuls of hair one morning in the shower before work. She came to me sobbing, and though we were prepared with a wig it was still devastating. She asked me to shave the rest of her very long hair off. I did this while we both wept. Then she put on her wig and got dressed for work. I was so surprised and told her she could stay home for a day. She responded “I don’t really want to stay home, all I would do is dwell on this. I love my job and want to get on with my life”. I had a light bulb moment where I understood that dwelling on the inevitable serves no purpose. I got dressed and went to work, got on with life. Thank you Jennifer, my brave, brave girl. 

Through this journey with Jennifer we have found that there are many kind, caring people in this world. The love we receive from so many is amazing. Thank you each and every one.  

Any additional funds beyond her travel will be used for her comfort and treatments not covered by insurance.