Hello family and friends!

First, I want to say thank you to everyone who has been supporting Sylvie and I through this. It has been the most challenging time of our lives and we are both so incredibly grateful for the ways in which our communities have shown up for us this year. I know many of you have been reaching out asking for updates, and I want to thank you all for your patience. This update may be difficult to read for those of you who know Sylvie personally, but this is important news that I feel her friends and family should be made aware of, so here it is.

Sylvie has been diagnosed with a very rare tumor - Aggressive Angiomyxoma - and her medical team in France has shared with us that only 100 people have been documented to have had it in the world. We all know Sylvie is a rare being, so why wouldn’t we expect anything else from this tumor?

This has brought up a ton of challenges around how to best face this health situation. The options that the medical team discussed with us back in May, honestly weren’t great, and it was unclear if any of them would be effective in reducing the tumor. What was clear, was that the options they discussed would completely and permanently destroy her body in ways that she would not be able to recover from. With this in mind, after a great deal of reflection and discussing options together, we decided it was best for Sylvie to try out some different, more holistic, health-focused methods to treat the tumor.

Thanks in large part to the money that was crowdfunded the last go-around, the past few months, Sylvie was able to sustain a healthy lifestyle daily as well as attend different deep healing retreats. Eventually Sylvie does plan to share her story and discuss that journey. Stay tuned for that in the future!

Since she was traveling a lot for these retreats, we decided that it would be best for me to come back to the USA and focus on work while doing van life, as it would be unrealistic financially and with my intense work schedule to follow her around to each and every retreat. Plus, someone needed to come take care of these two amazing pups we’ve been gifted in this life.

This last phase we have been in, has been challenging and beautiful, all rolled into one. It has been immensely hard to be physically separate from the one I love as she faces this hand of cards we have been dealt. This last phase taught us both a lot about healing practices, what wellness means in our lives, and the importance of creating a loving space to continue to do this work together as we move into the next phase of her healing journey.

In the interest of being fully transparent and vulnerable, things have gotten more difficult in the recent weeks. Sylvie’s tumor has unfortunately continued to grow and she has begun to experience other symptoms such as pain, digestive issues, losing weight and more. These are potential signs that the tumor is progressing and given this, we are now moving into the next chapter of this journey.

Sylvie and I were married over 2 years ago and have been trying to get her residency ever since. It is an extremely bureaucratic, expensive, and lengthy process. Unfortunately, she is not able to enter the USA right now due to the visa process being prolonged during COVID. The USA government actually took 2 years and 2 months to respond to us and our legal team about our position in this process. As of now, we have been told to start again and re-file everything from outside the country, which means it could be at least 3 years for her to be legally allowed back to the USA and another round of expensive documents to file and lawyers to work with.

Additionally, it just isn’t possible financially for me to move myself, our two pups, or my business, which is keeping us financially afloat right now, to Europe to be with her there. However, it is clear to us that it is important for us to be together during this next phase of the healing journey, so we have come up with a new plan - OPERATION MEXICO!

That’s right, we are planning to move to the Oaxaca region of Mexico, to surround Sylvie with the sunshine, love, support, healthy foods and meaningful routine that she needs to thrive and overcome this. We are planning to rent a house, make the space into a healing oasis, and give Sylvie everything she needs for miraculous mending. We truly believe in the power of healing, love, and miracles and we plan to make magic happen together in the beautiful paradise that is Mexico.

That said, we must also acknowledge the hard facts. In recent weeks, given the seriousness of where her health is right now, we’ve had the most challenging conversations of our lives. These conversations have been centered around creating a “death plan” and we have realized that if that’s the way it goes, Mexico is also the best space for Sylvie to experience the most beautiful and loving death we can imagine - surrounded by loved ones, the ocean, the beach, the sunshine and in a magical space we can create together.

It is hard for me to even write these words as this is most definitely NOT the outcome any of us hope for and it would be devastating for all of us... We still genuinely hold hope for a miracle and it is important to us that all of you in our community continue to hope and send love for the miracle we would love to see happen.

As we begin this new chapter in our lives, while remaining hopeful for miraculous healing, at the same time, we acknowledge that death is an inevitable part of the human experience. Above all, we are striving to walk this path with as much alignment to our values as is possible.

My top two values in life are COURAGE and LOVE. This is a defining moment… I am being tested by the universe to live those values to a new degree. My goal for this time is to LOVE Sylvie with everything I have, and to create a space for her to experience healing in full and lasting health improvements. If this proves to not be possible, then I will have the COURAGE to give Sylvie the most beautiful death experience she can have, as painful as that is for me to even admit.

I will need my own community of love and support as I face this next chapter of life, and I am so appreciative of everyone who has been reaching out to me throughout this year.

Here is the ask: As we face this next chapter, we need your help again. The funds from the last GoFundMe have been spent as she worked on her health over the last 9 months. It was so impactful for her to not have to stress about finances for much of the year as she put her attention and focus on healing her body and mind. With this next phase, we will need funds for renting a place in Mexico, moving Sylvie and her belongings from Europe to Mexico, providing Sylvie with the food, health, and love she needs during this time, and any other expenses related to this area.

Additionally, if there are enough funds, I would like to take some time off to help her with this healing process. As many of you know, I am a mental health therapist, and it has become increasingly challenging to continue to see the amount of clients I have to, in order to provide the income that will keep up with the obligations of financially supporting two households in two separate countries. Even prior to Sylvie’s health situation, she was unable to work in the US due to the prolonged legal process after we were married. The financial obligations have been laying heavy on my shoulders over the last few years and we really need your help now.

We are asking for $30,000 to get us through the next 6 months of this journey to pay for all of the things I described above as well as any additional medical expenses that arise for Sylvie.. If you feel called to donate to this next phase of Sylvie’s healing journey, just know it helps us immensely through what has been the most challenging time of our lives. We appreciate having all of you in our support circle and we look forward to reconnecting on the other side of this. It would also help greatly if you could share this video and GoFundMe with your communities to help us spread the word.

I will go ahead and end with this: Those who know Sylvie, know she is a rare and magical soul and she touches the lives of everyone she encounters. Sylvie deserves to have a beautiful life, and a beautiful death (if that’s the way it goes), and I hope you all will join me in giving this to her as well. My goal for this time period is simple: Be the best wife I can be for my soulmate, Sylvie Aibeche, and to help her heal from this, if that’s what the universe intends, or to be by her side and holding her hand as she transitions to the next phase of her own soul’s journey, as difficult as that will be.

Sending love and light to all of you through this time.

Sarah