The Kimberly Wolf Fund
Donation protected
Can You Give Kimberly More Time with Her Son?
Kimberly Wolf never thought she would be able to have a child. So, when she unexpectedly found herself a single mother in her forties, she was far from dismayed—in fact, she rejoiced in her miracle! After all, she had education, family support, a career, and an inner spiritual foundation. She could do this. She was meant to do this! And in the precious 14 years that Kimberly has raised Hamish, she has loved helping him grow, and learn, and play.
As a single parent, Kimberly always expected that she would be there to guide her son’s passage to adulthood, to see him become a young man. But fate has stepped in.
Kimberly is in a fight for her life. In May she experienced numbness and some difficulty walking, and then a severe seizure forced her to be raced to the Emergency Department. After a week of various imaging studies and biopsies, the pathology came back with a horrific diagnosis: a Grade IV glioblastoma brain tumor. As most know, a glioblastoma is a fiercely aggressive tumor—nearly a death sentence.
Kimberly works in social services in the health care sector, so she is quite medically informed. She spent a couple weeks exploring options for treatment—listening to oncology experts and listening inside herself—as she decided on her next steps and made plans for her adored son.
After consulting with four surgeons, Kimberly chose surgery with Dr. Manish Aghi at the University of California—San Francisco, a neurosurgeon who specializes in operating on gliomas and other brain tumors. He has a long and successful history with these types of surgeries. And only surgery offered Kimberly more time with Hamish.
Accompanied by her parents, Kimberly flew from Billings, Montana, on Tuesday, 21 July 2020. Once in San Francisco, she had mandatory COVID-19 testing, blood work, and an extensive six-hour MRI. In the time since her first MRI, her tumor had already doubled in size. She had also developed a much smaller, secondary tumor in an even more inaccessible location.
On Friday, 24 July 2020, Kimberly underwent surgery. They were able to retrieve basically all of the original mass but had to leave the secondary tumor untouched. Unfortunately, the surgery paralyzed the entire right side of her body—a not entirely unexpected outcome. We have some hope that the paralysis is not permanent; in the seven days since surgery, she has regained feeling and control of three fingers.
Kimberly staunchly paid the price to buy time: time to be with her 14-year-old.
Once Kimberly is released from the hospital, she will need to go into an in-house rehabilitation facility for physical therapy for a minimum of two weeks. Two weeks post-op, Kimberly must begin chemo and radiation, which means six additional weeks in San Francisco to complete her cancer treatments.
Upon completion of her treatment, Kimberly will come home to Montana and her son.
And bills. Oh boy.
Kimberly is lucky enough to have insurance through her job. However, insurance doesn’t pay for renting a room once she is out of physical rehabilitation, meals from GrubHub and ÜberEats (to maintain quarantine), or transportation (airfare between Billings and San Francisco, Lyft/Über between motel and hospital for treatment). Insurance won’t pay to have her son visit her at least once during the two months she will be gone. Insurance won’t pay for a new wheelchair ramp or for remodeling her bathroom and kitchen to make them accessible. Insurance won’t pay for a possible adaptive vehicle…
Insurance also won’t pay household expenses. Kimberly is on short-term disability from her job right now, so she has a partial income. Yet she still has household expenses that won’t disappear just because she is sick.
While we are raising money for Kimberly’s needs, any extra funds would be held in trust for Hamish.
Right now, there are so many factors that we—Kimberly’s family and friends—just can’t comprehend yet, and we pray that she is able to fight this for a long time.
That is why we are starting this GoFundMe page. Could you please help Kimberly and Hamish? We love and support them, and we are sure you would, too.
Kimberly Wolf never thought she would be able to have a child. So, when she unexpectedly found herself a single mother in her forties, she was far from dismayed—in fact, she rejoiced in her miracle! After all, she had education, family support, a career, and an inner spiritual foundation. She could do this. She was meant to do this! And in the precious 14 years that Kimberly has raised Hamish, she has loved helping him grow, and learn, and play.
As a single parent, Kimberly always expected that she would be there to guide her son’s passage to adulthood, to see him become a young man. But fate has stepped in.
Kimberly is in a fight for her life. In May she experienced numbness and some difficulty walking, and then a severe seizure forced her to be raced to the Emergency Department. After a week of various imaging studies and biopsies, the pathology came back with a horrific diagnosis: a Grade IV glioblastoma brain tumor. As most know, a glioblastoma is a fiercely aggressive tumor—nearly a death sentence.
Kimberly works in social services in the health care sector, so she is quite medically informed. She spent a couple weeks exploring options for treatment—listening to oncology experts and listening inside herself—as she decided on her next steps and made plans for her adored son.
After consulting with four surgeons, Kimberly chose surgery with Dr. Manish Aghi at the University of California—San Francisco, a neurosurgeon who specializes in operating on gliomas and other brain tumors. He has a long and successful history with these types of surgeries. And only surgery offered Kimberly more time with Hamish.
Accompanied by her parents, Kimberly flew from Billings, Montana, on Tuesday, 21 July 2020. Once in San Francisco, she had mandatory COVID-19 testing, blood work, and an extensive six-hour MRI. In the time since her first MRI, her tumor had already doubled in size. She had also developed a much smaller, secondary tumor in an even more inaccessible location.
On Friday, 24 July 2020, Kimberly underwent surgery. They were able to retrieve basically all of the original mass but had to leave the secondary tumor untouched. Unfortunately, the surgery paralyzed the entire right side of her body—a not entirely unexpected outcome. We have some hope that the paralysis is not permanent; in the seven days since surgery, she has regained feeling and control of three fingers.
Kimberly staunchly paid the price to buy time: time to be with her 14-year-old.
Once Kimberly is released from the hospital, she will need to go into an in-house rehabilitation facility for physical therapy for a minimum of two weeks. Two weeks post-op, Kimberly must begin chemo and radiation, which means six additional weeks in San Francisco to complete her cancer treatments.
Upon completion of her treatment, Kimberly will come home to Montana and her son.
And bills. Oh boy.
Kimberly is lucky enough to have insurance through her job. However, insurance doesn’t pay for renting a room once she is out of physical rehabilitation, meals from GrubHub and ÜberEats (to maintain quarantine), or transportation (airfare between Billings and San Francisco, Lyft/Über between motel and hospital for treatment). Insurance won’t pay to have her son visit her at least once during the two months she will be gone. Insurance won’t pay for a new wheelchair ramp or for remodeling her bathroom and kitchen to make them accessible. Insurance won’t pay for a possible adaptive vehicle…
Insurance also won’t pay household expenses. Kimberly is on short-term disability from her job right now, so she has a partial income. Yet she still has household expenses that won’t disappear just because she is sick.
While we are raising money for Kimberly’s needs, any extra funds would be held in trust for Hamish.
Right now, there are so many factors that we—Kimberly’s family and friends—just can’t comprehend yet, and we pray that she is able to fight this for a long time.
That is why we are starting this GoFundMe page. Could you please help Kimberly and Hamish? We love and support them, and we are sure you would, too.
Organizer
Tara Bracy Wolf
Organizer
Billings Metropolitan Area, MT