In Memory of Trudy Burnett

This campaign has been setup to help offer support and appreciation to Trudy's family. Her family has been getting requests to be able to help in some way from friends and herd share members. This was not a decision that came easily, but the family has come to realize that by not having this option, they were robbing from people an opportunity to give back in appreciation of Trudy. That was certainly not their intention and sorry :) Thank you to those who have voiced your opinions on this to the family. You know who you are. Those of you who had not heard that Trudy was sick, please don't let that bother you. Trudy kept this very close to the vest because she did not want anyone to worry about her. She never told even some of her closest friends because she knew that they would be worried.

(If you would rather not know the details, you should stop reading now)

Trudy was diagnosed about 6 months ago with one of the rarest auto immune system diseases out there (dermatomyositis - DM). Of course... "A rare disease for a rare woman" the family says. This disease attacks your muscles and joints and causes a skin rash. After further testing, she was also diagnosed with breast cancer which is fairly common to be coupled with DM. For those who knew Trudy, you can imagine how difficult this was for her to deal with being sick considering that she had spent the last 11 years educating people on health and wellness using raw milk, homeopathy, essential oils and common sense to heal. It was also about this time that they were having to make the decision to shut down the raw milk operation because of the physical toll it was taking on her. Her cows were her babies and herd share members were like family to her. It would have been easy at this point to think "what is the point of eating and living healthy?" and just giving up. Admittedly, there were a couple of weeks were she struggled with this before deciding to take a stand and fight. She did discover an aspect however that hadn't been taken into consideration previously... that is emotions and dealing with stress. It turns out that auto immune diseases have a lot to do with both of those things. Trudy stuck to her belief that there are alternative ways to beat cancer and pursued that route with the support of her family. The plan was to treat the cancer which in turn should get rid of the DM. After several months of the alternative treatments, her cancer tumors could no longer be felt and the skin rash and joint pain had nearly gone away completely. All indications were that she was winning. Then about 4 weeks ago (now) she started coughing and the doctors thought it was pneumonia. This is common for cancer patients. After the treatments for pneumonia weren't working and she started not being able to catch her breath, she ended up at the Cleveland Clinic. They are one of two facilities in the country who have DM programs. It turned out that Trudy had an even rarer form of DM that moves into the lungs. Her body's immune system was destroying her lungs and it couldn't be stopped. After nearly 3 weeks in the ICU, she passed on July 10th at noon with all of her family standing by her side. She had a constant flow of hospital workers stopping by to check on her and the family. The janitors, the admitting nurses and Dr's (people who weren't responsible for her, would come by to check on her). That is how she was. Everyone who met her wanted to be around her and talk. They would all comment on how great her smile is and how kind and caring she is. Trudy will be missed more than words can express. You learn a lot about someone and a family when they face a situation like this. It can break them and tear them apart, or it can strengthen them and pull them together. Trudy set the example of strength and following your beliefs. Her hopes were that her friends and family would learn to do the same. We are all better people by having known Trudy and having her in our lives. We are just thankful to have been blessed with as much time as we got to have with her and for such an incredible example of what servant-leadership looks like. Don't stop eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle because of this story thinking "why try"... but rather spend some time evaluating how you handle your emotions and stress.

The family would like you to know that this was not written to ask for financial support, but rather to give you a chance to be involved with giving back. Trudy was not a flower giver herself. If you would like to make a donation to an organization in her memorial in lieu of flowers, you can take a look at "Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund" which helps protect raw milk dairies and their herd share members (Be sure to comment that it is in memorial for Trudy Burnett). If you prefer to help directly support the family, you now have that option as well. Trudy's family says "Thank You!" either way.

Please share your stories, pictures and memories below! We intend to use them in the future to put together a storybook of the lives that she impacted and the fun times had with friends and loved ones. 

Also of note, during the donation process, they ask for a "tip" that would go to GoFundMe.com. You do have the option of selecting "other" and making it $0 if you so choose.