Help Laurel Defeat Cancer!

In May 2021, our beloved friend Laurel’s routine mammogram came back abnormal. After a series of diagnostic tests, including a second mammogram, biopsies, CT scans, blood work and MRIs - Laurel was diagnosed with Stage 3, triple-positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.

In July 2021, Laurel began receiving chemotherapy infusions every three weeks. In December, she had a mastectomy, followed by a lymph dissection just five weeks later. In March 2022, after enduring debilitating side effects of chemotherapy and recovering from two surgeries, Laurel began radiation therapy and completed 23 treatments. She was informed that the initial round of chemotherapy had failed. Ever determined and brave, Laurel has enrolled in a year-long clinical trial at UCSF and has started her second round of chemotherapy. Every three weeks until the end of January 2023, she will travel to San Francisco for infusions and return home as soon as possible for rest and healing. Throughout this journey with cancer, she’s also been utilizing Chinese medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy, chiropractic, physical therapy, bodywork, Taoist spiritual healing, psychic healing, plant spirit medicine, prayer and visualization.

 

Laurel is a wife and life partner to Millard Murphy, mother to Mengesha, sister, healer and community member at La Tierra in Sebastopol, CA. A singer, ceremonialist, medicine maker and loyal friend, she loves her family deeply and wants to live in this wonderful community for many years to come. As a practitioner of Chinese Medicine, acupuncture and herbology, she educates other female acupuncturists. Since the diagnosis, Laurel needed to take a break from working, and she turned her thriving acupuncture practice over to her fabulous colleague Heather Bird L.Ac. This loss of income has had a significant impact on their family’s available resources. She and Millard have been giving this their all for the past year - and these treatments are incredibly expensive! There are co-pays, deductibles, treatment fees, transportation expenses, medical equipment, follow-ups, physical therapy, nutrition, MRIs, ultrasounds, specialists, referrals, prescriptions — the list goes on and on. It is estimated that they have spent $48,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses over the past year. She has cut her complementary treatment spending by 50% over the past few months to conserve financial resources.

 

Laurel has been boldly and bravely showing up for this journey, holding on for dear life - one day at a time. A health crisis like this would bring many to their knees. Laurel views it as an opportunity to embody healing at the deepest level of her being. She is doing her best to  heal from this, simultaneously gathering resources along the way that she hopes to soon share to help others. When someone in our community is in need, they reach out to Laurel for support. She has been compassionately giving and sharing her healing gifts with others for decades. As someone who has offered so much love and energy to her community over the years, now is the time for her to receive.

 

The Friends and Family of Laurel Brody have initiated this campaign to ease the burden of medical costs, reduce stress, and support this extraordinary family as they navigate a path of healing. We hope to raise enough funds to allow Laurel to get the best care available anywhere in the world and integrate many healing modalities into her treatment plan. Your support will help fund western medical treatments that aren’t covered by insurance and the complementary medicine and therapies she is committed to using. Her doctors believe this will possibly be a lifelong healing journey; with your support, we hope to help make that a very long one.

 

Throughout this process, Laurel has shown pure grit, determination, strength, courage and resilience. Please, open your heart and give what you can. Show Laurel’s family some love, share this story and help us reach our fundraising goal! Thank you!