All,

As you may know, in October 2024, Lindsey was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian cancer. At 34 years old and receiving this diagnosis, our lives were flipped upside down. We started our journey here in the Chicagoland area with local hospitals, and then extended it to Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson, and Memorial Sloan Kettering, to ensure Lindsey receives the best medical treatment and works with best doctors available.

Since October, Lindsey has been receiving Chemotherapy treatment every 21 days at Northwestern Hospital in downtown Chicago, and most recently, in January, she had a major debulking and hysterectomy surgery performed at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City.

Lindsey's response to both the Chemo and the surgery has been fantastic. In fact, she was walking close to 2 miles around Central Park just 4 days after her operation - she's incredible!

Although Lindsey has been responding incredibly well to her current treatment plan, Ovarian Cancer is associated with a higher rate of recurrence. To combat this risk, we have been forced to expand our thinking beyond traditional U.S. medicine and investigate progressive medical treatments and holistic methods.

Over the past 4 months, we have been on phone calls and Zoom meetings with doctors around the world to make sure that Lindsey lives a long, cancer-free life.

As we are nearing the last of the 6 rounds of Chemo, we are preparing to take the next step in protecting her against a recurrence. This will take us to Germany, to a hospital that offers a personalized vaccine against Lindsey’s specific cancer tumors that were removed during surgery. CeGaT and the University of Tubingen will study Lindsey’s cancer tissues for ~4 months and develop a targeted vaccine specifically for her. We will then need to travel to Germany regularly for her to receive the vaccine (this type of medicine is not available here in the States).

Because this is a privately funded treatment plan, insurance does not cover it. So, between the treatment itself and the 10-12 trips to Germany, this will be a huge expense. One of Lindsey’s number one goals throughout this process has been to keep our three daughters lives as normal as possible. Financial assistance will allow us to make family decisions without having this financial burden hanging over our head.

Since October, we have felt nothing but love and support from everyone around us. From meal trains to kids play-dates, to contacts at hospitals, to medical treatments that are taking place in other countries, and the hospitality that was shown to us in New York with lodging and food delivery, it has been unbelievable, and we are so lucky to have the best of people in our ‘village'. There have been so many people who have sent such generous and thoughtful gifts to Lindsey, as well as to our girls to keep them busy -- we are so grateful.

Now, as medical bills continue to flow in, we are targeting $100,000 to be able to financially support Lindsey's next phase of treatment, along with the current medical bills that we receive almost daily.

I can’t express in words what our community of family, friends, friends of friends mean to us. It’s truly incredible to see. With that being said, I understand that our financial goal is high, and we recognize that people have already supported us in more ways than one, and financial support may not be an option at this time. We appreciate everyone’s support thus far and no gesture has gone unnoticed.

With all the Love,

The Dickinson Family