Supporting Sarah's Cancer Fight
Donation protected
Over the past year or more, I've been encouraged by many wonderful friends and family to consider holding an online "gofundme" campaign to help support the costs of my cancer treatment and related travel expenses. They've graciously offered to help get it started and be admin so that I have 1 less thing to worry about. However in this case, I felt it was important for me to reach out to you through my own effort and with my own voice.
I'm here asking for your financial support as I pursue experimental therapies, procedures, and medicines for my cancer. Next week (mid-May 2018), I'm traveling out of state to see new doctors at the National Institutes of Health in the Washington DC area, who are running clinical trials testing novel drugs and therapies that may be able to help me live longer.
Over the last few years, I've been told more times that I want to admit that my disease is terminal and aggressive so therefore I should focus on the things that are most important to me rather than using my time to search for a cure, a likely un-attainable outcome.
That may be good advice but I refuse to believe that my time on Earth is finished. I feel fiercely and completely that I have more work and love yet to do in this life. I am not ready to go. Therefore I will continue to push, pull, and search for another stay in this war against the cancer in my body. This is where your financial and spiritual support can help make this easier for me and my family as we take the next steps in this fight.
I've been living with and fighting against a stage 4 metastatic cancer for almost 5 years. When I was first diagnosed in July 2013, I remember thinking that if I could somehow survive this disease for 5 years, that things would be OK and I'd be able to move on with my life.
What I did not know at the time and probably could not have comprehended was the idea that it is possible to live for many years with advanced cancer, constantly waging war on the disease, winning small battles, celebrating the victories but never really getting ahead of the cancer. Sometimes being held down, half-suffocated by the disease then you find some way to stand up only to find yourself pushed against the ropes, slowly altering your life, asking you to give up, piece by piece, things you held dear, all the while draining your energy, your sources of hope, and your bank accounts.
Over the last few years, while undergoing surgeries, procedures, and more rounds of grueling chemo and radiation than I can count, I have been constantly uplifted and amazed by the beauty, joy, and generosity of people in my life. I've seen my children grow and reach milestones that I worried I would miss. In between the peaks and valleys of fighting this monster of a disease, I've been able to travel, make new friends, enrich old friendships, get closer to my family, meet new family members, learn new philosophies and skills, and begin to see the first seeds of a future where I might have the opportunity to provide support to others as they walk the difficult journeys of cancer and chronic disease.
Unfortunately as of December 2017, my disease seems to have gained the upper hand and has pushed me and my family to find new reserves of will power, energy, and hope that we did not know we had. It has also forced us to seek out new doctors, practitioners, and advisors with the hope that there is a way that my cancer can again be pushed back to a place where it is not so immediately life-threatening. I've written about this in a blog that I call Cloud Tiger Hope Beast which I update when I am emotionally and physically able. Please feel free to visit the blog to learn more.
Next week I'll be taking my 2nd trip to the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland to be evaluated for inclusion in a clinical trial to test experimental medicines against my cancer. I have been going without chemotherapy for almost 2 months in preparation for this. All the while my body is showing me that the disease is progressing and the clock is definitely ticking.
Please keep my family in your prayers, send us good vibes, and if you can, donate towards the expense of fighting my disease. As an alternative to this campaign, you can use the following paypal link to donate directly: paypal.me/helpingsarahburns
I am deeply thankful for your interest in my story and thank you in advance for your generosity.
Take care always,
Sarah M R Burns
My youngest star expressing pure excitement for an adventure.
I'm here asking for your financial support as I pursue experimental therapies, procedures, and medicines for my cancer. Next week (mid-May 2018), I'm traveling out of state to see new doctors at the National Institutes of Health in the Washington DC area, who are running clinical trials testing novel drugs and therapies that may be able to help me live longer.
Over the last few years, I've been told more times that I want to admit that my disease is terminal and aggressive so therefore I should focus on the things that are most important to me rather than using my time to search for a cure, a likely un-attainable outcome.
That may be good advice but I refuse to believe that my time on Earth is finished. I feel fiercely and completely that I have more work and love yet to do in this life. I am not ready to go. Therefore I will continue to push, pull, and search for another stay in this war against the cancer in my body. This is where your financial and spiritual support can help make this easier for me and my family as we take the next steps in this fight.
I've been living with and fighting against a stage 4 metastatic cancer for almost 5 years. When I was first diagnosed in July 2013, I remember thinking that if I could somehow survive this disease for 5 years, that things would be OK and I'd be able to move on with my life.
What I did not know at the time and probably could not have comprehended was the idea that it is possible to live for many years with advanced cancer, constantly waging war on the disease, winning small battles, celebrating the victories but never really getting ahead of the cancer. Sometimes being held down, half-suffocated by the disease then you find some way to stand up only to find yourself pushed against the ropes, slowly altering your life, asking you to give up, piece by piece, things you held dear, all the while draining your energy, your sources of hope, and your bank accounts.
Over the last few years, while undergoing surgeries, procedures, and more rounds of grueling chemo and radiation than I can count, I have been constantly uplifted and amazed by the beauty, joy, and generosity of people in my life. I've seen my children grow and reach milestones that I worried I would miss. In between the peaks and valleys of fighting this monster of a disease, I've been able to travel, make new friends, enrich old friendships, get closer to my family, meet new family members, learn new philosophies and skills, and begin to see the first seeds of a future where I might have the opportunity to provide support to others as they walk the difficult journeys of cancer and chronic disease.
Unfortunately as of December 2017, my disease seems to have gained the upper hand and has pushed me and my family to find new reserves of will power, energy, and hope that we did not know we had. It has also forced us to seek out new doctors, practitioners, and advisors with the hope that there is a way that my cancer can again be pushed back to a place where it is not so immediately life-threatening. I've written about this in a blog that I call Cloud Tiger Hope Beast which I update when I am emotionally and physically able. Please feel free to visit the blog to learn more.
Next week I'll be taking my 2nd trip to the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland to be evaluated for inclusion in a clinical trial to test experimental medicines against my cancer. I have been going without chemotherapy for almost 2 months in preparation for this. All the while my body is showing me that the disease is progressing and the clock is definitely ticking.
Please keep my family in your prayers, send us good vibes, and if you can, donate towards the expense of fighting my disease. As an alternative to this campaign, you can use the following paypal link to donate directly: paypal.me/helpingsarahburns
I am deeply thankful for your interest in my story and thank you in advance for your generosity.
Take care always,
Sarah M R Burns
Here I am in April 2018, on my 42nd birthday with my 2 most precious gifts.
My husband & I finding a moment of peace and a little romance.
My husband & I finding a moment of peace and a little romance.
My youngest star expressing pure excitement for an adventure.
My older star, just as expressive as his brother, wondering if Einstein might be hiding in Italy.
Christmas 2017.....at a hotel in Florida. Where else would we want to be?
My PEOPLE!, my beautiful siblings. All 5 of us in love with eachother forever.
Me back in spring 2017 with my former business partner standing in front of our start-up med device company. Both of us moving on from this venture but proud of what we built and appreciative of everything that we've learned and experienced along the way.
Christmas 2017.....at a hotel in Florida. Where else would we want to be?My PEOPLE!, my beautiful siblings. All 5 of us in love with eachother forever.Me back in spring 2017 with my former business partner standing in front of our start-up med device company. Both of us moving on from this venture but proud of what we built and appreciative of everything that we've learned and experienced along the way.Organizer
Sarah Richardson Burns
Organizer
Ann Arbor, MI