Help for Sharlea Myers Hobren

My name is SHARLEA MYERS HOBREN
and I have Cancer -- URGENT NEED!!!

For more than 30 years I have worked with the emotionally brokenhearted and the mentally ill. This is my vocational calling from God, the way that He created me. Since early childhood, people have shared, and continue to share with me, the pain of their journey. For me, this is a blessing and a privilege, like receiving a kiss from God Himself.

My Life Prior to Cancer

I saw more than 30 people weekly for Counseling/Coaching, and as a Critical-Incident (Disaster) Debriefer, providing emotional and psychological support to trauma victims. I also engagaed in public speaking and teaching. Only God knows how many hours I have served, both un-compensated or under-compensated, helping people. The practice was and continues to be my vocation. God provided for the expenses of the business and some support for our family. It is my belief that all people should receive help when they need it, whether they can afford it or not. The hours of community service through my church is my way of thanking God for all He has done for me and my family. 

My husband and our children have always been supportive and sacrificed as well. Our home was child-centered. Our children began learning at a very young age about God’s Love for His children. They also learned about family, community, and taking care of one another. My husband and I were determined that both of us would parent together. We provided individual attention for both of them. We were determined that our children would know us as individuals, and the value of service. My husband and children were also involved with community service, not only through the church but in other community settings. That meant less time working for money and more time raising incredible children.  

My Life with Cancer and Chemotherapy

I am proud of my family. Our children are service-oriented, loyal, unentitled, amazing young people. They are just starting out in Life and unable to help us financially. However, they provide a great deal of love, support, and help for us when called upon.  

My husband (65 y/o) continues to look for work or some means of providing financial resources. He is consistent in his effort to provide for us, just as he has always been. He is a published writer in multiple professional areas. He has been at the top for interviews multiple times but not hired. We believe it is age discrimination, but of course that is a hard thing to prove. Now, lately, his spinal health issues have made it difficult to work at all!

I still see a few people if/when I can. (This my "occupational therapy.") This is a great blessing for me. It has been a way for God to use me to help His children as well as me. The comfort that I provide to those who continue to reach out to me comes back to me as "sacred sustenance" for me. I provide a high standard of service as I always have. I struggle to meet the costs of providing services; however, I (we) have been forced to use our personal financial resources just to keep going. I lease office space from an associate and a good friend. At the moment, I owe her a lot of money. She has been very gracious to me.

Our financial planning for retirement was well-grounded. We were consistent and committed to caring for ourselves in retirement. But like many people our age that just hasn’t worked out the way we'd planned it! Adding cancer to the mix has unraveled our well-laid plans for our golden years. At this point we have depleted all of our financial resources, including our IRAs. We have no savings or other financial resources left, period! My Social Security Disability and my husband’s Social Security combined cover barely half of our cost of living and my extensive medical expenses! We are having to pay our bills with our personal credit cards that bear high interest rates, for lack of any other way for us to stay afloat! Yes, this is bad policy, we know, but this is what things have come to!

It is a lesson in humility. I am humbled, but I am alive. I had never imagined us being in this situation at this point in our lives! We are unable to meet our financial obligations. However, I have learned many priceless lessons on this journey. God has used the cancer to touch others in some amazing ways. He has allowed me to witness some of them and I have no doubt there are more. My love, trust, and faith grow daily through my walk with the Lord. God alone knows the number of days I have left on this Earth, and He has a purpose for each one. It is my heartfelt desire to continue serving as His caregiver to His hurting children. 

I have a very rare and aggressive form of cancer, a G.I. Sarcoma that metasticized to my liver. Fewer than 3,000 to 4,500 people in the U.S. get this type of cancer each year. I will always have this cancer. I am not in remission but the cancer is kept dormant with costly chemo medication that costs $600 a day! When I was first diagnosed in 2012, I was given fewer than 30 days to live, but I am still alive after 4 years! I believe that I am still here because God is not done with me yet, that He still has more for me to do before He brings me home! My oncologist believes that I could live for years. That is a miracle and a testimony to God’s incredible power. Why am I still alive? I have no idea other than to serve the Lord within my limitations. The challenge with cancer has come at a very high price: $35,000 to $40,000 per year, not including other related medical costs such as PET/CT scans, medications, surgical interventions -- the staggering costs just go on and on!

If you believe that God can use ordinary people like YOU to work His miracles and help others in their time of need, then PLEASE help us? Our goal is to pay off our medical debt and to make a plan (consistent with our financial resources) for the future. 

Small donations of $50 and up will help us reach our goals, if you are able to give just a little of what you've been blessed with. Whatever God leads you to give will add up, and will be greatly appreciated by us. I firmly believe that through people like YOU, God will meet our needs and enable us to start a new life.

Thank you for your help. And may God return to you tenfold the blessings for whatever you can do to help us out. Our present and future are in His hands...and yours!
 
Footnote:

(To hear my YouTube testimony about my battle with cancer, please visit this website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FcYb4qKrJ8)