Love Them Well: Chris Campbell and Family Need Us

“Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real.” — Iris Murdoch

This fundraiser comes about as a consequence of a love story.

Not the effortless love we imagine when we are young and have no conception of life’s struggles and sufferings, but the quiet, devoted love that motivates sacrifice and action. The devoted love that sees the beloved as a whole, irreplaceable person—a body and a soul who must be loved properly.

The love that Chris has for his wife, Jamie Jo. The love that both of them have for their three young children.

This fundraiser comes about because this question demanded an answer: What will you choose to love, and how?

The patient part of the love story—the part the teenager struggles to imagine—began five years ago. Chris and Jaime, already parents to two young children and expecting a third, rushed to the hospital in Jaime’s 36th week of pregnancy when she began coughing up blood. Shortly after, they received the inconceivable diagnosis that Jaime had metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. How? She had never smoked, was a yoga practitioner, and ate a healthy, organic, vegetarian diet. And yet, it was true—their new reality.

For five years, they have been bravely and diligently working together to raise their children and heal Jaime’s cancer. Jaime’s positivity, enthusiasm and spiritual radiance have inspired all who know her. Through healing medicines and her determined efforts, the cancer left the majority of her body; however, it was never fully eradicated from her brain.

And then, this April, the seizure happened. A terrifying moment where they might have lost her. Rushed to the hospital, intubated, they feared the worst. But Jaime is strong, and she pulled through.

The doctors told them the tumors were all over her brain and bigger than before. That she was lucky she hadn’t been driving her children when the seizure struck. But that to stop them, she would need whole brain radiation and a new medication.

Jaime bravely submitted to this intensive treatment, but of course, there has been a cost. The tumors have shrunk, and she has thankfully had no more seizures, but she has had months of debilitating side effects, most frustrating of which has been profound fatigue.

Her motivation through this suffering is always before her: her 11-year-old daughter and 8-year-old and 5-year-old sons.

Through all of this, her husband of 16 years, Chris, has been by her side, caring for her, supporting her, loving her and their children. He is the family’s quiet hero, their unwavering champion.

He has also been their sole provider. All was well, until the economy faltered. A ceramics artist, he is the co-founder and an account manager at Vault Fine Art Services, a company that, among other things, stores, packs, installs, conserves and archives fine art in and around Austin. Though he had been able to work from home, his role at the company grew smaller because his duties at home have been primary, and made their claim on his heart.

With the change in the market, and knowing he could not be fully present in his work, he made the extremely difficult decision to step away from the company so that his salary could be diverted to save his employees’ jobs. With the change in Jaime’s health, he knew he could not step away from his wife and children.

This fundraiser comes about because Chris has sacrificed everything he can, for all those who depend on him.

This fundraiser comes about because Chris must pay for Jaime’s escalating medical expenses. Despite enrolling for healthcare through the marketplace, the out-of-pocket costs associated with her treatment, MRI scans and supportive care are significant. For instance, just one of her essential medicines costs $490 per month.

This fundraiser will offer love and hope to a beautiful family who deserves an abundance of both. This fundraiser will help to alleviate their mounting medical costs. This fundraiser will give Chris some time to catch his breath and plan his next steps, while also ensuring that he can love his wife and children well.

Chris and his family today need a legion of heroes, an army of champions. We humbly offer thanks for anything you can contribute.

Love,

Team Jaime and Chris

p.s. If you share this on social media, please use this hashtag:

#letslovethemwell