Hi friends and family. I’m so very sorry to have to do yet another GoFundMe. I wish I didn’t need to reach out, especially during such difficult times in the world.

Jim was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer over the summer. He was to begin chemotherapy and radiation (concurrently) to attack this VERY aggressive cancer. He got through quite a few radiation treatments, but only had about 3 chemo sessions. Since late August until October 1st, he has had three stints in the hospital. First for severe sepsis and septic shock, which required a helicopter ride to a different hospital better equipped to handle his serious health issues. The second time was about 5 days after he was released from the hospital with sepsis due to hospital-acquired pneumonia. Another week in the hospital. Then, about a week after that, most recently, September 25th, he was admitted again for pneumonia. We had no idea things would go so poorly. While there, he went into ventricular tachycardia (extremely fast heartbeat—a type of arrhythmia) as well as finding out his pneumonia was MRSA caused. He required 9 shocks from the defibrillator as his heart went “wonky” and they even had to do CPR three times. Due to his lack of improvement, inability to tolerate the chemotherapy, being too fragile for an implant device to help his heart, etc., the doctors have decided it’s time for him to enter hospice.

This, my friends, is why I’m creating this fund. We live in California and my mom and Jim live in Missouri. The only support system they have is my Aunt Mary. She can’t be the one to take this all on alone. We don’t know how much time he has left and we desperately want to fly out there and see him and have him (and my mom) finally meet Connor. We haven’t been able to afford to make the trip and Connor turns 3 this month. Now we MUST make that trip. We don’t want to go into financial ruin. Airline, hotel, and car rental costs are very high with such short notice. Jim wants nothing more than to take my mom to dinner and a movie and is so sad that he can’t do that now. We want to get out there and fulfill his wish. We can take them. We want to be there to support him, my mom, and my amazing Auntie Mary who has stepped up to help our family by taking in my mom and Jim at her home and helping coordinate everything.

All that is happening, and will happen, will require a lot of money that we, frankly, don’t have. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance for your shares and contributions. We love you all. ❤️