Update on Katie and the Sanchez Family

Juan, Katie, Isabella (10) and Arieli (8) Sanchez are a beloved light in our little community. Over the years, you’ve seen them selling homegrown veggies and eggs at weekend sales, walking Main Street hand in hand and Juan running his standard 20 miles up and down Hwy 29. They’ve been simply praying, loving and living joyfully right alongside us and bringing countless blessings to our lives.

They are no strangers to grave health struggles. Within the last 8 years, Juan has had 2 heart surgeries and the girls have faced a handful of unique health struggles. A few constants have carried them through these years - the love and prayers of God and community, and Katie’s care of her brood.

And now Katie needs help.

In August of 2023, Katie began feeling extreme nausea. She struggled to eat, and tried to put the puzzle pieces together to find the source of the problem. She had multiple blood tests and scans, worked with the local team at St Helena Hospital, and a naturopath. Some spots on her liver were found. They were referred to a team at UCSF.

UCSF started from scratch, and began CT scans, MRI’s and everything in between. They found a 3 cm tumor in Katie’s appendix and large intestine and a few smaller spots in her liver. At this time, they don’t know the connection between the tumor and the spots in the liver. More scans will be done as she recovers. They scheduled her for surgery within 2 weeks of reading the scans. She was diagnosed with rare mucinous neoplasm of the appendix. They will have the leading doctor in this particular field doing her surgery. There is a chance they will apply a first round of Chemo directly into the abdomen before closing her up - but the doctor will make a real time decision on that.

Katie’s surgery will be on February 28th. She and Juan will be staying at family support housing near the UCSF campus. The girls will remain at their little farmhouse in Angwin with a cherished babysitter and an army of friends having the girls over for playdates, meals, and lots of fun distractions. They will keep their homeschool schedule in place through an amazing co-op of homeschool support and Foothills School where they attend part time.

So let’s get down to the nuts and bolts, how are these funds going to help? Their surgical and medical costs are covered. They need help covering the costs of living. With Katie’s diminished energy and constant medical appointments, Juan is able to work much less - and as most of you know, Juan is a master craftsman and handyman, and only makes money if he’s working. Juan also has a shoulder injury that couldn’t have come at a worse time, Katie simply laughs at the adversity (with her typical trusting humor!) that is currently staring them in the face.

Your donations will cover gas, groceries, mortgage, insurance, and many other costs, as Juan is not working. At this time, we don’t know how long Katie’s recovery will be and if she will need follow up Chemotherapy. We are hoping to support their living costs for a few months, so that Juan can focus on Katie and the girls. We all know that relieving stress will help Katie heal more effectively and peacefully! We will keep you updated on all those details.

In addition, we’ve assembled a list of folks to pray for by name:

Katie, for courage and strength and complete healing

Juan, for insight and dedication, focus and leadership and healing on his torn shoulder

Arieli and Isabella, for peace and contentment

Dr. Adam, for a steady hand and wise leadership of medical team

Katie’s family in Virginia and North Carolina

Juan’s family in Mexico City and locally

Encounter Church, who will be supporting this sweet family in many ways

All of us heading up this network of GoFundMe support. That we can love and support and pray with joy and hope