Help Buy Us Time

Update: 8.30.23

Dear friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I write this update. Kacie passed away this morning without pain at her home. Kacie has been a beacon for a lot of us during her time and will continue to shine for us in spirit. We are deeply grateful for the support, love, and kindness you've shown throughout her journey.

In the midst of our grief, we are faced with the reality that Erik, Kacie's husband, is still battling colon cancer. Their strength as a couple was unwavering as they navigated this challenging journey together. Erik's fight continues, and he now faces an uncertain road ahead as a single parent to their son, Nate.

We kindly ask for your ongoing support to help Erik and Nate during this extraordinarily difficult time. Your generous contributions will provide essential financial assistance to cover medical expenses, ensure Nate's well-being, and help Erik create a stable environment for their young family.

Thank you for being part of Kacie and Erik's journey and for your unwavering support during this time.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Melanie

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Please help me raise funds to help Kacie and Erik through this extraordinarily difficult time.

 

A message from Kacie:

I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately. Not just how, when you binge Netflix, an hour seems like a minute. But about how time is an investment, and how often we take that investment for granted. In the last 6 months, my family has realized how precious time is—because it’s likely running out for us.

 

Six months ago, my “curable” bout with colon cancer turned into a stage 4 diagnosis. Six days ago, we discovered my husband is facing the same diagnosis. The average life span of someone with our condition is 2-3 years—that’s about half of the time we’ve been parents to our son, Nate. I fully believe that with our young age, team of doctors, and excellent support network, we'll beat that average. But, in my darkest thoughts, I calculate that our time as a family could be more than halfway over.

 

I’ve been so proud of the fact that I have not reached out to my friends for money over the two years from my initial diagnosis. But just as time is money, money is time. Time is what we need right now.

 

Every dollar that you earn represents time, it’s the hour that you worked, or it’s the 5 minutes of joy you get from eating the ice cream cone you bought. Once you’ve met your basic needs, you decide how to earn and use those dollars to invest in happiness. For our family, access to money will determine what experimental treatments we can pursue. It will decide how we can choose between work and rest, and it can buy us more happy memories when we feel good. And in the most unfathomable outcome, money will decide how Nate’s future gaurdians can care for him if we can’t watch him grow up.

 

I’ve tried to live my life with the principle that I am quick to give my talents, time, and resources. We teach Nate that generosity creates more net positive outcomes than being selfish. I can’t give a number to the total dollars that we will need to get us through this journey but I can make two promises:

We’re humbly asking that you help us buy more moments together, in whatever way you can afford to support us. Thank you for your time.

 

Love,

 

Kacie and Erik