Lori Frisher's toughest battle yet

Lori Frisher is a disabilities business advocate, a two-time cancer survivor, and now will be a three-time cancer survivor. She is also one of my first friends - we grew up across the street from each other in Long Island, New York and now, as fate would have it, we both live in Denver, Colorado.

A few weeks ago, her surgeon removed a 6.5-pound tumor from her hip, pelvis, and thigh along with all her left-side gluteal muscles: maximus, medius, and minimus. Since then she needed an additional surgery due to an infection and has remained in the hospital for the past month. The removal of all of these muscles will greatly affect her everyday tasks like getting out of bed, in and out of a chair, driving and walking. Lori will have a severe limp for the rest of her life and will have trouble walking.

Lori will need radiation and aggressive chemotherapy to treat her Myxofibrosarcoma Stage 3 cancer. There will be many months of vigorous rehabilitation to teach her how to walk again with a walker and hopefully one day a cane. During this difficult time, she will need assistance with everyday tasks, and she will not be able to work.

If you know Lori and many of you do, Lori is a fighter. She has used her gift of disability as a deaf person to disrupt narratives about people with disabilities through storytelling, business strategies, and teaching about the power of empathy. In the hospital – despite extreme pain and weakness – Lori continues to tap into her strategic and creative thinking to help the community of caretakers learn how they can better and more empathetically serve people with disabilities.

Lori is also the most genuine, kind, and giving person you could meet. Even during this difficult time, she is writing notes to the hospital administration to let them know how well the nurses have been treating her. That says it all. Lori is an unbelievable daughter, sister, niece, and friend. She would do anything to help anyone in need and fights for what she believes in -- empathy and equality which has been instilled in her since childhood. She created her company, Ready or Not Media to teach corporations to have more empathy for people with disabilities.

With every challenge Lori has ever faced, she has focused on what is possible versus what is impossible. She is a leader, an advocate, an entrepreneur, and an athlete. Lori commits her time and passion to helping those who find themselves in life-challenging situations. Now, Lori is the one who is in another life-challenging situation. She has fought many battles, but this is the toughest one yet.

In addition to the help she needs with medical expenses, home care, and preparing her home for when she returns from the hospital, your thoughts and love are truly appreciated during this difficult time. I’ve set up this GoFundMe so that you can offer some financial support that will be enormously helpful to our dear Lori.

Please help however you can.

Thank you so much!

Susan Jurow