Help Paige Caldwell Defeat Cancer

MAY, 2024 UPDATE

Paige's battle continues. It's been a brutal year and a half, but Paige is a warrior. Her team of oncologists at Fred Hutch and Peace Health have thrown everything they have at this cancer, and while things are somewhat stable, the overall picture of the disease has worsened since we first posted this GoFundMe. This cancer is incredibly aggressive, and is essentially incurable and I operable. Paige will be battling this disease for years to come, and is currently back on medical leave from teaching -- her passion and her life's work -- until at least September, 2024, as she undergoes intense chemotherapy and we manage the symptoms of the disease and treatments.

Your support has meant the world to us, and continues to help us get Paige the best care and outcomes we can.

Mark, aka Paige's Husband

ORIGINAL POST FROM 2023

In November of 2022, Paige was diagnosed with Fibrolamellar Hepatomatic Carcinoma -- an incredibly rare form of genetic liver cancer that attacks healthy livers, and is very poorly understood. The process of reaching this diagnosis has been long, but Paige's battle is just beginning.

There will be many costs associated with Paige's treatment, which will occur at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA, a world-class center of cancer knowledge and medicine. We expect that she will undergo multiple surgeries throughout this process, in addition to radiation and chemotherapies, and will be on leave from teaching until at least Fall 2023 -- and potentially beyond that.

We are writing today to ask for your financial support in her battle.

Paige is a beacon of goodness, light and love in my life, and I imagine the same is true for every one of you reading this today. Whether you know Paige as a friend, as a teacher, as a colleague, or in any other way at all, I know that she probably left your life a little -- or a lot -- brighter and better.

Any financial support you can offer Paige today will go directly toward her treatment and recovery costs. Your support will also help offset lost wages that are inevitable during a leave that will stretch through almost an entire school year.

Above all else, your financial support will allow Paige to rest a little easier, knowing that we are prepared financially for the many unknowns that will arise through a long, grim battle.

If you would like to learn more about Paige's situation or would like to receive updates on her care and treatment, we have created a page on Caring Bridge at: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/paigecaldwell

Thank you so much for any support you can offer Paige, in whatever form you choose to offer it.

All my love, and all of Paige's love, too,

Mark Burkholder (aka Paige's Husband)