Support Sarah and Family Through Her Cancer Journey

Two days after her 40th birthday, Sarah went in for her first “routine” mammogram. Eight days later, we learned she has breast cancer (multifocal invasive ductal carcinoma-- ER+, PR+, HER2-). Thankfully, Sarah’s cancer was caught early and she has a wonderful medical team at UVa. But this will be a long journey, with many more appointments, surgery, downtime for recovery, and approximately five years of oncology treatments/endocrine therapy. Sarah has a left mastectomy scheduled for July 18, and will be on leave for at least six weeks. Since the diagnosis in late May, Sarah has reduced her workload significantly to make space for her medical needs.

Sarah has been self-employed for over ten years now. Her work has been very meaningful for her, and an inspiration for all of us. But she does not have any paid leave (she does not make money if she is not able to work). Much of that work involves traveling, prison visits with clients, witness interviewing, and long hours, which she will not be able to do for the foreseeable future. Once she’s healed and ready to return to work, it will take time to fill her caseload back up.

In addition to this lost income, we will have a new stack of medical bills to deal with. From what we’ve read the cost of cancer care in the first year after diagnosis is often in the $40,000-50,000 range (for example this). The whole family is on good health insurance through Seth’s work, which will thankfully cover a large portion of it. Still, no matter how we look at it, this will be a difficult time for us financially.

We are so thankful to have a vibrant community of friends and family around us to help carry us through this. We’ve already had folks drop off dinner, offer to watch the kids, weed our garden… not to mention countless conversations and messages of support. We really can’t imagine doing this without you all. We appreciate any donation you can give, no matter how small. Or, if you cannot give financially, we would love help walking the dog, playing with the kids, and even sending us your warmest thoughts and prayers. We have set up a meal train sign up for those who want to help by bringing us a nourishing dinner or snack. Lastly, for those of you who would like to follow Sarah’s journey more closely, we are posting updates on our CaringBridge page . Thank you again for all of the love and support.

With love and strength and endless gratitude,

Sarah, Seth, Lu, and Theo