Dear friends,
Angela was just diagnosed this past Spring with State IV Colon Cancer. I know Angela because her husband Chris was the youth minister at our Parish for some time. They have two beautiful little children. I am posting this information on here so that we can help spread their story and try to get them as much help as possible. I ask:
1. Please pray for her healing.
2. Help spread the word and repost and tweet this as much as possible.
3. If you can contribute monitarily, that would be great!
Here is more information.
God bless you all,
Mama Erika
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Save a Life: Support Angela Faddis' Advanced Cancer Treatments, 31 year old, mother of two young children with Stage IV Colon Cancer
Our Story
On April 24 of this year (Easter Sunday), we learned that my wife, Angela Faddis, had a large mass growing in her colon and tumors on her liver. Later tests would confirm that she has Stage IV Colorectal Cancer which has spread to the liver. (
read more about our story here)
Her cancer is extremely advanced and doctors have informed us that it is considered "incurable". They hoped that with some aggressive chemotherapy they would be able to shrink the tumors enough to operate and bring her to a "curative" state. Their hope was to achieve this ambitious goal after 8 weeks of treatment.
On July 1st, we found out that this aggressive protocol of three chemotherapy drugs gave a mixed result. The tumors in the liver had shrunk slightly, but the tumor in the colon had actually grown and was now pressing in on the bladder and ureter. The doctor said that the news was "not good, not bad, just different." The problem of course is that for us, “just different” is still not good.
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A New Approach
This news has helped us realize that we need to do even more. We firmly believe that a more comprehensive and integrative approach is what Angela needs to survive this cancer. We were home in Phoenix last week and met with doctors to discuss other options.
We were excited to learn of some aggressive protocols and advanced treatments along with targeted radiation and chemotherapy that would give Angela a much better chance for survival. We have heard countless stories of survivors and even have a family friend who survived late stage cancer using these same protocols. We believe that with an integrated approach, we can give Angela the best course of treatment possible and in turn give her the best chance of survival.
We are now trying to raise funds to get Angela these treatments so that she continue to be a mother to our two children, a wife to me, a daughter, a sister, and a friend to those who love her. Some of the treatments will exceed our insurance limits and therefore insurance will only be able to cover some of the costs. We are praying that you will partner with us to raise these funds.
What we need:
We estimate that our ultimate financial need will be around $65,000. However, in order to at least begin this aggressive protocol - we need to raise approximately $30,000. This will pay for the treatments that are not covered by insurance. We need to raise this money quickly because it is essential that Angela begins treatment right away.
We will have to move our family to Phoenix during treatment and our prayers have already been answered in that we were offered a free home for the next four months to allow us time to transition and get the treatment that Angela needs. Now we can focus on raising the funds that we need to move forward.
This is Possible
While our goal of raising $30,000 is ambitious, I believe it is fully possible. Back in January of 2010, I was a part of launching a campaign called "Fast for Haiti" which was launched through my blog site and FB page. In that campaign we raised over $8,000 in direct contributions for aid to Haiti and several high schools and universities also led their own versions of the campaign. I've estimated that we raised over $10k in that simple campaign.
Later that year, when our dear friend, Melanie Pritchard, suffered an Amniotic Fluid Embolism while giving birth, doctors had told her family to say goodbye. Many prayers were being lifted up through Twitter and Facebook. I felt the need to tell Melanie's story and posted a blog about her need for prayers. By the next day 10,000 people had visited my site and over 2400 people shared her story on Facebook, resulting in well over 150,000 people seeing Melanie's story through Facebook. Melanie is alive today because of the countless prayers that were voiced all over the world. It wasn't just me spreading the word, but many people tweeted, and posted Facebook statuses that led to a firestorm of prayer on her behalf.
These stories give me hope that we can find the support we need.
Why Give to Us?
We often see people raising money to find a "cure" for cancer. There are tons of great organizations out there that you can give your time, your talent, and your treasure to for this great cause. What we are asking for is help for our immediate need. Your money will not go to finding a cure for cancer, but it will go towards trying to cure my wife's cancer. Obviously I think a lot of people would beg the question, "why should we give money to you?" It is a fair question.
All I can say is that as Angela's husband I am desperate for a way to help her heal from this cancer. I desperately desire for her to be cured of this. We have two children, Gianna, who is four and Augustine who is two. The reasons why our children need their mother are many. We all need her. We can't imagine life without her.
While we are certainly going to trust God with whatever He allows to happen, we also believe that we are called to hope in all things. Our hope is that Angela can live through this cancer. Our hope today is that you will help us meet our financial need so that we can give her the best treatment possible. Our hope is that you will help spread the word and be our advocates to raise these funds.
What We Need & What You Get
Our starting goal for this campaign is $30,000. We are asking that each donor give a gift of $30 or more.
This goal is lofty, but if you break it down it looks like this:
1000 gifts of $30 = $30,000
500 gifts of $60 = $30,000
50 gifts of $600 = $30,000
IndieGoGo encourages that we give some perk to donors. All we can really offer is our prayers of thankgiving for any act of generosity. We will hold a Mass of Thanksgiving in the Phoenix Area for all of those how have helped us on this road. You will be invited and you will be prayed for. I hope that is benefit enough.
Other Ways You Can Help
SPREAD THE WORD: I know what you're saying "what if I can't give that much?" Well what if you could help raise it? We are asking for either your own support or for your help in raising the funds that we need. Would you consider setting a goal of how much you can raise? Maybe it's $30, or maybe it's $600 - either way it will help tremendously.
There are many share tools on this page to help you spread the word. We would love it if you could commit in the comments section below to raise a certain amount. This will only help to get others involved.
PLEASE PRAY:
We ask that regardless of your ability to give, you might pray for us. We have been so grateful for the countless prayers on our behalf and we humbly ask that you join us in prayer. God is bigger than cancer and we trust in him.
I know that for me and many others, it is far more interesting to read about people who walked before us. Even historical fiction, which takes historical events and people and embellishes to bring intriguing stories presents a more palatable way to expand our knowledge and appreciation of history. Call Me Kate by Molly Roe meets the criteria of bringing historical events to life beyond a dry retelling in the history books. I would even wager that many of us have little background or knowledge of the unrest among mining communities of Pennsylvania during the Civil War.
