My sister, Tracy, is the mother to 3 children, Shea 17, Evan 14 and Maeve 8 and wife to Joel for twenty-three years. She left her career to raise her kids. She is creative and always had a passion for interior decorating so she switched gears and now has an online decorating business & blog.

She has gone through her whole life without having any major injuries, not even a broken bone. She was never a big drinker, not a smoker, avoided junk food and although loved her diet cokes a little too much, she never had any major health concerns. That was until what she referred to as her “granny stomach” seem to take a turn for the worse. She was always sensitive to certain foods as an adult and thought that she may have some gastrointestinal condition. Unfortunately, she put a doctor’s visit off thinking it would work itself out with a change in diet including giving up her diet coke. When she started losing weight rapidly she knew she had to see her doctor. No one expected what they found which was Colon Cancer which had metastasized.

At age 45, with 3 kids to take care of; Tracy & Joel had to face the biggest fight of their lives. She said the hardest part of this ordeal was to tell her children why Mommy wasn’t feeling good. Tracy always went out of her way to protect her kids from some of the harsh realities of this world, but this was one that could not be hidden. Since September of 2012, she has been through many rounds of chemotherapy which has made a big difference and Tracy is now a candidate for surgery. Her surgeries will be complicated probably involving 2 surgeons. Tracy’s attitude during all of this is to let’s get this over with. It hasn’t been easy, but with the support of her family and all of her friends she doesn’t feel alone in this fight. She takes her prayer shawl from a nearby church & a prayer quilt from her Aunt in Texas to every chemotherapy day. She knows that everyone’s prayers from people all over the world have made a difference and she is determined to one day be a Cancer Survivor instead of a Cancer Victim.

We have learned having cancer is expensive. With the costs of doctor visits at least once every other week, chemotherapy 3 times every other week, a multitude of necessary prescriptions, as well as other necessary supplies it causes a strain financially. The costs associated with the upcoming surgeries, will just add to the strain tremendously. So many of you have already helped out with meals and helping to pay for house cleaning. We are asking for you to donate to help offset these costs. Any amount will do. Just go to How You Can Help at the top of this page for more information. We will also use this site for updates and let you know other ways to help that might be needed in the future like possible platelets/blood donations. Please pass this information along to anyone that would like to help. Post a link on your Facebook page, email friends, let people know.

Thank you,

Carrie