Bailey-Burke family vs. Double Cancer

This GoFundMe is to support our friends Gretchen and Derek and their two young children as this sweet family reels from a second cancer diagnosis (stage 4 metastatic breast cancer) only 9 months after the first (childhood leukemia).

December 2023: little R celebrated her third Christmas with her parents D and G, enjoying being a big sister to baby H who was then only a month old. A few days later, R was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

January 2024: Still very much in a tender postpartum period, G and D and baby H lived in a tiny hospital room with R for the entire month of January. This intensive inpatient phase of R’s leukemia treatment was a dizzying swirl of pokes, prods, and punctures, including the installation of a port for her to receive chemotherapy.

They were able to return home in February and outpatient treatment has been ongoing all spring and summer. Thankfully, R will soon enter the final phase of chemo before she goes into maintenance, and treatment has been going as smoothly as can be expected.

September 2024: In the midst of addressing significant foundation/structural issues with the BB fam house, we received the terrible news that R's mother, Gretchen, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Within a week of her diagnosis and following a number of tests, it was found to have metastasized to her liver and sternum meaning we are dealing with Stage IV breast cancer.

Needless to say, this is a real blow and the Bailey-Burkes need all the support they can get. The home they purchased in May 2023 requires extensive foundation repairs, an unforeseen expense that was not caught in the initial home inspection. The estimate of the initial work just to stabilize the house is around $100,000. This does not include many other costs like reconstructing the front porch and back deck, which must be removed to address the foundation, as well as then also refinishing the basement. The house has shifted so much that the front door is difficult to open and close. As the foundation of their happy (first) home literally shifts beneath their feet, the rug has been pulled out from under them by this second cancer diagnosis.

Thank you to everyone for your support up to this point. It is a wonderful feeling to see the BB fam surrounded by such a compassionate and strong community.

Please consider donating to help Gretchen and Derek as they move into this new stage of not only continuing to care for little R during her treatment process but also supporting G as she begins her own cancer treatment.

Any amount is appreciated, and we are grateful for the emotional support and labor of those surrounding the BBs. We thank you again for all of your supportive actions and energy, and for accompanying us through these very challenging times.