We hit $45k thanks to you
Three weeks in and we've already covered the first round of chemo and two months of mortgage. Sarah asked me to tell every single one of you that she reads your messages when the days are hard.
Hi, my name is Mark. I'm Sarah's husband. We have two children — Mia (6) and Noah (4). I'm asking for your help to give Sarah every chance to stay with them as long as she possibly can.
One month ago, Sarah was a healthy 34-year-old mother, working part-time at the community library. Within days, she started dropping things, couldn't open jars, lost strength in her right arm. A scan revealed a 3cm tumour in her left breast and a secondary lesion in her liver.
A week later she was in surgery. What followed was worse than we imagined: multiple complications, a second surgery, and nine days in the oncology unit.
The diagnosis: Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. The most aggressive form her oncologist has seen in years. Life expectancy with standard treatment: 18 to 24 months.
I'm not ready to accept that.
Why we're fighting for something more
My sister Lauren was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma at 30. Her chance of survival was 5%. She's alive today, ten years later, cancer-free, because she was one of the first patients in the US to receive a breakthrough immunotherapy called Pembrolizumab.
The same treatment that saved her life has shown early promise for metastatic breast cancer, but it isn't available on our insurance for Sarah's diagnosis. With private funding, we can access it in Germany, alongside a personalised cancer vaccine that teaches her immune system to hunt down the cells left behind after chemo.
There are no guarantees. But some patients who received these treatments are still alive years later with no evidence of disease. We want to be one of them. We have to try.
What your donation covers
Our goal of $75,000 covers twelve months of treatment, in-home care while I work, mortgage, and a therapist for Mia who has started asking hard questions.
Whatever you can give — $5 or $500 — goes directly to keeping Sarah with her children. Thank you for reading this far. Thank you for being part of a story we are desperately trying to write a different ending for.
— Mark, on behalf of Sarah, Mia, and Noah
Sarah, we don't know each other but my mom beat the same diagnosis 8 years ago. She's at my son's soccer game right now. There is hope. Hold on.