Kooda Campaign
Donation protected
As of today Sept 8th we are shutting this one down and starting a new one for Barry to pay the bills.
The new link is
https://www.gofundme.com/f/barry-kooda
We are starting this GoFundMe to honor of our dear friend and fighter, Laura Brown Huebner (Kooda), and her amazing husband, Barry Kooda. For those of you who are not aware, Laura was diagnosed with cervical cancer on November 1st, 2017. Since then, the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes, and doctors have agreed that chemo with not be able to eradicate it at this stage. Barry has been keeping a journal of their ups and downs over the last year, which tracks the progress of treatment, as well as their battle with insurance and information. She has been told she has a fistula that is connecting her uterus, bladder, and colon and has undergone a colostomy to keep her kidneys from becoming blocked, which would result in sepsis. She is currently at home, with Barry as her primary caregiver.
In his words, “My mind is mush, filled with thoughts about what lies ahead for us. She is back to taking FECO (Full Extract Cannabis Oil) and we’re praying for a miracle, but know that it’s a long shot. We had always figured that we would somehow die together, at the same time, and that neither would have to live through the grief of losing the other. I don’t know if I could live without her after 41 years or if I’d want to if I could. I can’t stop thinking of the things we’ll probably never do again…..Camping, kayaking, relocating to Costa Rica. Our plan was to move to there and live with the nature and local people. Traveling. Living. Loving. Even just taking the dogs to Joppa or the trestle trail seem improbable now. I worry that, should it come to it, Laura will force herself to continue living in pain and discomfort just for my sake. I don’t know if I can live without her but I don’t want her to suffer to be here for me.
I was saying something to her about the futility of life, talking about how infinitesimally small we were compared to the Universe and she interjected “Two particles of space dust in the vast Universe somehow found each other and will do so again.”, changing the whole direction of my little speech from darkness to light. I want to believe that she’s right. That we will always find each other, but who knows? If this is all there is, I want more, but if we could be together in happier circumstances, I would love that. I just have a hard time believing. All I know for sure is that I love her with all my heart and want to be with her always.
If she passes first, Laura would want me to take care of the animals. That would be one of her greatest concerns. I would have to endure the gut wrenching grief and stay with them. I would have to sell the house since I don’t make enough on social security to keep up the payments and feed us all, but this house would mean nothing to me with her gone. So many thoughts of “what if” fill my mind with worry and despair. I go back and forth between grieving for a loss that hasn’t yet occurred and hoping for a miracle. I’m in a constant state of fight or flight.
We got the bill for the three days Laura was at Parkland, and it was over $40k, which was pretty demoralizing. No telling what the 8-day stay at Baylor and colostomy surgery will end up being. I try not to think about it now and will deal with it when it arrives, It is just too overwhelming...”
The new link is
https://www.gofundme.com/f/barry-kooda
We are starting this GoFundMe to honor of our dear friend and fighter, Laura Brown Huebner (Kooda), and her amazing husband, Barry Kooda. For those of you who are not aware, Laura was diagnosed with cervical cancer on November 1st, 2017. Since then, the cancer has spread to her lymph nodes, and doctors have agreed that chemo with not be able to eradicate it at this stage. Barry has been keeping a journal of their ups and downs over the last year, which tracks the progress of treatment, as well as their battle with insurance and information. She has been told she has a fistula that is connecting her uterus, bladder, and colon and has undergone a colostomy to keep her kidneys from becoming blocked, which would result in sepsis. She is currently at home, with Barry as her primary caregiver.
In his words, “My mind is mush, filled with thoughts about what lies ahead for us. She is back to taking FECO (Full Extract Cannabis Oil) and we’re praying for a miracle, but know that it’s a long shot. We had always figured that we would somehow die together, at the same time, and that neither would have to live through the grief of losing the other. I don’t know if I could live without her after 41 years or if I’d want to if I could. I can’t stop thinking of the things we’ll probably never do again…..Camping, kayaking, relocating to Costa Rica. Our plan was to move to there and live with the nature and local people. Traveling. Living. Loving. Even just taking the dogs to Joppa or the trestle trail seem improbable now. I worry that, should it come to it, Laura will force herself to continue living in pain and discomfort just for my sake. I don’t know if I can live without her but I don’t want her to suffer to be here for me.
I was saying something to her about the futility of life, talking about how infinitesimally small we were compared to the Universe and she interjected “Two particles of space dust in the vast Universe somehow found each other and will do so again.”, changing the whole direction of my little speech from darkness to light. I want to believe that she’s right. That we will always find each other, but who knows? If this is all there is, I want more, but if we could be together in happier circumstances, I would love that. I just have a hard time believing. All I know for sure is that I love her with all my heart and want to be with her always.
If she passes first, Laura would want me to take care of the animals. That would be one of her greatest concerns. I would have to endure the gut wrenching grief and stay with them. I would have to sell the house since I don’t make enough on social security to keep up the payments and feed us all, but this house would mean nothing to me with her gone. So many thoughts of “what if” fill my mind with worry and despair. I go back and forth between grieving for a loss that hasn’t yet occurred and hoping for a miracle. I’m in a constant state of fight or flight.
We got the bill for the three days Laura was at Parkland, and it was over $40k, which was pretty demoralizing. No telling what the 8-day stay at Baylor and colostomy surgery will end up being. I try not to think about it now and will deal with it when it arrives, It is just too overwhelming...”
Organizer and beneficiary
Kathi Kibbel
Organizer
Dallas, TX
Barry Kooda
Beneficiary
