Support Vicki's Sixth Battle Against Cancer

When I was just in the beginnings of high school, my maternal grandparents both passed away from different cancers within just a couple years of each other. It was during this same time period that their middle daughter-my aunt -also first discovered that she had lymphoma. The consummate middle child, Vicki has never been one to back down from any fight, and the lady that loves an inappropriate joke and adores some Candy Crush, gave those haywire cells a run for their chaos like no other. Even heartbroken over the loss of both her parents and ravaged by the side effects of treatment, she survived it all. However, sometimes life is inexplicably hard, and it takes a particular toll on people. Since that time, Vicki has had five reoccurrences of lymphoma. She has had a stem cell transplant that caused her to rearrange her life for months. She has lost her hair countless times, and her taste buds have been terrorized by treatments. For 16 years, she’s had a break, but cancer, with its endless sea of unwanted surprises has struck with its cold claws once again. She now finds herself battling invasive ductal carcinoma in both breasts and begins weekly chemotherapy for 12 weeks before another 30 treatments of daily radiation. This is after having just undergone a double mastectomy.

These things are beyond difficult to manage on their own, but this time Vicki doesn’t have the support that she had before. Her beloved husband suffered a debilitating illness recently that left him unable to walk and to care for himself, and he now resides in a care home full time. With him away, she has to go through so much of this cancer battle alone, existing only on her single income from a factory job to survive. It seems impossible that with all that’s she’s had to endure, she has managed to make it so far with such grace, fortitude, and an incomprehensible strength. But this time things are just particularly hard.

She’s stubborn and proud and never been one to ask for help, but right now she’s struggling to make ends meet, and we would like to help her get by with as much tangible support as possible. So please consider donating. I know there are countless causes, and it’s so hard to justify helping someone you may not know, but any little thing will help. A drop of kindness can help get one less thing off her plate. It can help pay for her utility bill, so that she can heal without worrying about her power staying on. It can fund the gas in her car to attend treatments. It can let her take a day off work when she doesn’t have it in her to go. It can give her the food she needs to fight, the warm blanket to cuddle under, the bad movie that takes her mind away even for just a second. She deserves to be able to spend her days fighting this horrid disease process, and by not having to worry about paying bills and getting by. She has fought so hard, and she deserves to be able to take a breath even if it may only be for a moment.

There aren’t any right things to say in times like these. But, it feels like this is a way that we can let her know that every burden doesn’t have to sit upon her shoulders. That while illness can make one feel isolated and alone, she never is. And, while we can’t fight for her, we can at least help ease some worries and let her know that there is always someone at her back.

To know someone who has survived cancer is an honor, but to know someone who has battled it victoriously multiple times and now has to battle it again for the sixth time is nearly indescribable. So please help if you can. Even the smallest amount will be appreciated beyond measure and will do so much to help take some pressure off of her. And, if you aren’t able to donate at this time, we’d be forever grateful if you could

share this. Because it is the unexpected kindnesses and the unfathomed support that have the power to do more than we can ever comprehend.