Therapist Needs Help Caring for Terminal Daughter

Tara Landis is a social worker at an all boys therapeutic boarding school in Idaho. Throughout her career, Tara has helped dozens of families in crisis. She has an extraordinary ability to reach troubled adolescent boys, and then to help those boys successfully reintegrate into their family systems. Now Tara has a crisis in her own family, and she needs your help.

Tara's 23-year-old daughter, Hannah, is currently facing the final stages of terminal cancer. Hannah was first diagnosed with Synovial Cell Sarcoma in 2016, a rare and deadly cancer that attacks soft tissue cells such as those found in muscles and the lungs. She was in high school when she received the terminal diagnosis and bravely endured multiple major surgeries, which left her without most of the muscles in her left upper thigh. She was told that she would never walk again, but she did. Her cancer returned in 2019, metastasizing in her lungs. She had more surgery and underwent experimental chemotherapy, despite the long odds. Hannah fought through her medical treatments and went to college to pursue a civil justice law degree. Sadly, the chemotherapy did not work and the cancer returned with a vengeance. Earlier this year Hannah's cancer had spread so extensively in her lungs that there wasn’t any treatment available. At her last scan, Hannah had 18 tumors in her lungs (10 more than in the previous scan in June) and fluid in the pleural cavity that needs to be drained regularly in order for her to breathe.

In her own words, Tara describes her daughter as: “[A] LOVER of animals. She has had rats, guinea pigs, dogs, and would adopt every single animal she saw if she could. We always had to stop for every stray animal and find its owner or take it to a no-kill center. Hannah has always stood up to the bullies and looked after the vulnerable. She decided to go into law to help vulnerable populations. She said social workers don’t do enough. Ha! (I’m a social worker). She loves her brothers with every fiber in her body. She was a track & cross country runner until cancer showed up. It is hard to run when most of one of your upper legs is missing. She is sassy and amazing to be around. She doesn’t like to let others know she is hurting because she wants to help others, not let them help her.”

Hannah now needs constant care and pain management. Tara has decided to take an unpaid leave from her therapy work to care for her daughter during these final months, but her family is under incredible financial strain from the loss of income and Hannah’s medical care. Tara’s husband, Travis, also works full time, but their family of five relies on both of their incomes in order to make ends meet. Some of Hannah's treatments and surgeries have been experimental and not covered by insurance. Please consider donating to help this sweet family during this very difficult time.

Hannah, on her first day in Kindergarten.

Tara, Travis, Hannah, and her two brothers.

Hannah, August 2022.