Triple Cancer Fund for the Golstons

Three cancer diagnoses in one household within 18 months. That is the nightmare my sister’s family is facing as the holidays begin.

Anyone who knows Rachel and Russell Golston and their daughter Gray knows that they are an incredible family. Funny, smart, incredibly hardworking and determined. Dedicated to each other, to their friends and family, and to achieving their dreams on their own terms. Rachel and Russ met in high school, and when they married in 2007 they set right to work achieving their dreams together. The type of folks people rightly call a Power Couple. In nearly 20 years of marriage, they have accomplished amazing things against long odds – moving across the country twice, becoming homeowners, building successful careers, returning to school, and raising a kind and brilliant daughter – all with an indefatigable spirit and certainty of purpose that is truly inspiring to behold.

By the time they moved to Chicago in the summer of 2018, Russ had become a master mechanic and they were able to live modestly but comfortably on his income while Rachel went back to school to achieve her dream of completing her bachelor’s degree. They were even able to purchase a home in a quiet Chicago neighborhood with good schools for Gray.

Unfortunately, just as their move to Chicago was underway, our family suffered the first in a chain of tragedies when our uncle was killed, followed just three weeks later by the death of our father. Rachel and I lost our mother to suicide in the spring of 2020, right as the pandemic hit. Several more deaths followed while Covid-19 ravaged the world.

Then, on Valentine’s Day 2022, Rachel received a terrifying diagnosis: she had stage IIIB melanoma in her breast. She underwent surgery in May and began a course of immunotherapy treatment, which thankfully sent the melanoma into remission after six long months – but it came with some grueling side effects that surprised even her oncologist. In the end, her thyroid was destroyed and she was left dependent on hormone therapy for the rest of her life.

Rachel and Russ had drained their savings by paying all of her medical bills in full. However, with help from Rachel’s new contract job, they managed to rebuild amazingly fast. In fact, despite everything they’d been though, they even provided me and my son with significant financial support when I fell on desperate times in late 2022. I absolutely would not have made it through those harrowing months without their incredible generosity and support.

Then they suffered yet another devastating blow. On January 16, 2023, Gray’s 13th birthday, Russ was diagnosed with stage IIIB colon cancer. He would need several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, and eventually surgery. Just as Rachel was starting to come out the other side of her cancer treatment, Russ had received his own diagnosis and would have to begin his own grueling journey.

Rachel and Russ continued to work full-time throughout all of this, and Rachel also continued to attend school full-time, eventually graduating Summa Cum Laude in May 2023. They grabbed onto whatever joy they could find between work, school, and hospital visits. By the time Rachel graduated, her contract had run out at work, so with college degree in hand she set out to find a permanent job. After seven long months of sending out job applications that seemingly went nowhere – and with medical bills continuing to stack up, the holidays approaching, and their savings once again dwindling away to nothing – Rachel was rehired for another short-term contract earlier this month. On her first day back at work last week came unbelievable news: a routine CT scan revealed that Rachel has breast cancer. Not melanoma of the breast this time, but an entirely new diagnosis.

Right now the full prognosis is unclear as we await further imaging and pathology results, but we do know the breast cancer has metastasized to Rachel’s lymph nodes. Rachel will most likely have to quit her job to undergo treatment. Russ is due for his own cancer surgery next month, which will require a hospital stay and a month out of work while he recovers at home.

The Golstons have done an incredible job surviving on their own for the last 18 months, but this is more than even the strongest family can bear. They desperately need help to make it through whatever the coming months have in store for them. The cost of treatment thus far is into the millions of dollars, and so far they've faced $45,000 in medical bills before even accounting for Russ’s surgery and Rachel’s new diagnosis. Between ongoing treatment and copays, Rachel’s monthly prescriptions, and the skyrocketing cost of living, their basic living expenses have ballooned to around $8,000 per month. To top it all off, Rachel’s student loan payments start up in December, adding another several hundred dollars to their monthly bills.

I know we’re all feeling the pinch of inflation and a crummy economy, but I’m asking, if you can, to please give whatever you can spare and help my beloved, incredible sister and her family make it through this latest round of devastation. They have been an unwavering source of love and support to me and many others, even as they faced their own profound challenges. They deserve, and now more than ever need, to have that love and support returned.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you,

Sarah Gitchell