Apron Release Scheduled for 12/12!!

Hello everyone! Please visit the Help4Maria facebook page to claim your apron on or after Sunday, 12/12. A sample apron is shown in the close-up photo here.

Here's how it works:
1. Donate
2. "Like" the Help4Maria facebook page
3. Claim your apron by commenting on the photo in the album
Detailed instructions for the three step process are within the text below.


Now that mom's feeling better, she's ready to raise funds with a sewing project.
We are sewing one-of-a-kind aprons using materials that were passed on from Maria's mother (check out the Bias Tape photo on facebook - only 8 cents!) and many were sewn using a machine and thread that belonged to Maria's mother-in-law.
We are raising funds for all the costs associated with Maria's cancer treatments, prescriptions and nutrition regimen.
A commemorative informational card on ovarian cancer awareness will be included with each apron.
Suggested donation for each apron is $18 to $30. They make great gifts!

HOW TO GET YOUR HANDS ON ONE OR MORE OF THESE BABIES:

1. Donate! Visit help4maria.blogspot.com and click the “Donate” button on the right. You will be able to make a secure payment straight to the donation account! You can make your donation at any time before you claim your apron. We are so thankful for the donations we have already received before the release of the aprons. Thank you!
**The suggested donation for this fundraiser is $18 to $30 per apron.
**In the "Message" section of Paypal, you can let us know how many aprons your donation is covering.

2. Please, if you haven’t already, go to the Help4Maria Facebook Page, and hit the “Like” button. This way you’ll be able to claim your apron(s) by commenting on its photo!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001072334413&v=wall&ref=profile#!/pages/Help4Maria/116140365091102

3. Visit the "APRONS: Raising Funds" photo album on the Help4Maria Facebook Page and comment on the apron you would like with something like, "I'd like this one. Send." OR "This one's mine! I'll pick it up." There is only one of each type of apron - the first to comment will receive the one-of-a-kind apron. It is very important that you comment on the exact photo in the album as it is the only way we can track inventory and for others to know the apron has been claimed. Comments on the wall will not hold an apron for you.
Depending on your response we'll send it to the billing address you provide in paypal or we'll send you the address in Reno where you can pick them up.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Help4Maria/116140365091102?v=photos#!/album.php?aid=34308&id=116140365091102

~~~~~PLEASE SHARE THIS ALBUM WITH THOSE YOU KNOW WOULD BE INTERESTED IN DONATING TO RECEIVE ONE.~~~~~~

ENJOY! Thank you for supporting our weeks of effort to make this happen and for supporting Maria in her courageous battle. She's sure a trooper! :)

Posted by Monica, Maria's daughter.

Accountant Here Reporting

Hello everyone!

Thank you for following the blog and for your comments at the end of the blogs. I know my mom really enjoys reading them. Please don't forget she is on facebook and we also have a page for the cancer journey called Help4Maria on facebook...

Monica, Maria's daughter, here.

We had a wonderful fundraising drive earlier this year and appreciate everyone's efforts. With all the appointments and the state of my mother's health it is difficult for my father, Ron, to find a job that would be understanding of the time off required and him calling in to stay home with mom. Not to mention the fact that he is on a work-trade agreement with his landlord to get a discounted rate on rent.

What will help us now is for you all to continue praying and sending positive thoughts mom's way and to follow through with any fundraising ideas you've had... For instance with the help of a few friends, I am setting in motion a pancake breakfast, a 5K run and a spaghetti feed here in Reno.

Please comment to the post with ideas for fundraising and what is working well and not working so well for you. Together, we can raise the funds needed!! Goal: $60K

Cruch Time! - lacking funds for urgent surgery

Thank you all who have participated in this blog and over the phone. Your prayers have helped tremendously.

$7926.20 needed by TOMORROW AT NOON and we are at $5250 now.

We realize that some of you are digging deep into your pockets to find funds and that for others they may come easier. Right now we are facing an URGENT deadline to have all of the funds in the bank by Tuesday at noon so mom can have surgery on Thursday. So, please spread the word and guide others to the blog so they can find the account number or please pass it on. Every dollar, large or small, counts!

Why are funds required up front? Why not just go for surgery and pay later?
Mom and dad are fortunate enough to qualify for a discounted medical care program called Access to Health care Network (AHN). It is a network of doctors and health care practitioners who agree to offer their services at tremendous discounts to the Networks patients as long as they pay for all services up front. To put this into perspective, my mom was in the hospital in Concord, NH a couple weeks ago for about 24 hours. The fluid was drained from her belly and she was under supervision afterward to monitor any complications. They just received the bill for this yesterday - $24,000!! Not sure how we are going to pay that one...

Mom's COBRA Insurance ran out about 8 months ago and because of pre-existing conditions, she has not qualified for coverage under any other insurance program. Under the new health care reform, the pre-existing clause doesn't go into effect for adults until 2012 or 2013 - mom was given less than 6 months to live if we do nothing!!

Without AHN the surgery would be about $80,000. With AHN, it is about $8,000! Awesome... but... it must be paid by Tuesday end-of-business and we aren't yet fully funded. PLEASE HELP!!

Any amount you can give, big or small helps.
Kindly Send Donation To:

Help 4 Maria
c/o Delta Pi
P.O. Box 14644
Reno, NV 89503
OR
Donate to Account Number 6123685494 at any Wells Fargo Bank or Wachovia Bank (account holder name: Maria Reed)
OR
e-mail help4maria@yahoo.com for more details, information, to send a message of support and encouragement, etc.

Please Help Maria and Her Family Keep Her Alive and Well!

Due to the nature of mom's condition, there will be ongoing expenses for chemo and other treatments necessary to give her a chance at continuing this life. Any amount in excess of the initial $8K, will be used toward these expenses. Thank you all again for everything!!

Update on Maria:
Ascites is excess fluid in the space between the tissues lining the
abdomen and abdominal organs (the peritoneal cavity). www.google.com/health

Her tummy is so full and tight that she is in moderate to high pain, but the doctor is hesitant to drain it before surgery because of the possibility of infection. She looks 8 months pregnant. She cannot lay down anymore and has moved to the recliner in the living room to alleviate a bit of pain. If we don't have the funds for surgery by Thursday, she may have to get her abdomen drained in a separate proceedure, which would not only subject her to the possibility of infection an extra time but would also end up costing more.
Her spirits are high and her faith is greater than ever. She is so grateful for all of the friends and family that hold her in their prayers and that have helped out financially.

A Very Happy Birthday for Maria

A very happy birthday for Maria happened today. She was diagnosed, when she was 56 years old, with cancer. And everything since the diagnosis in April has been not happening - every avenue we tried to get help from the state and the county and the government has failed. But our daughter Monica told us about Access to Healthcare Network and after being turned down so many times by the others, we went to talk to AHN. It is not an insurance company, it is a discounted health care program. Through their program specific doctors and specialists give generous discounts to people who have no insurance. We met with Dr. Lim, gyno-onc, yesterday. We got some good news and we got some bad news. The good news is that he would accept our case and give us his services at an enormous discount to get Maria on her way to recovery. The bad news is that he gave her less than 6 months to live if she does nothing. If she does just chemotherapy, he gives her 12-18 months to live. With his surgery and 18 months of chemo following it, she has a pretty good chance (80%) of living five years or more. That's what Maria wanted for her birthday - surgery and to get on the road to recovery. We have come up with about half of the cost of the hospital and procedures that will be done next week in just one short day!
We need to raise $8000 total by Wednesday in order to pay for this.
So, I am asking that if you could take a serious look at your financial situation and can contribute any amount of money, large or small, it will help tremendously.
In order to receive the heavily discounted rates through AHN, one must pay upfront. We have to turn in all the funds to each provider by Tuesday. The quickest way to donate is to put it in the Wells Fargo/Wachovia account so that we can make it by Tuesday.
Thank you all for listening to me rambling and babbling but I really don't know what else to do. I really have no other choice. And if I can ever help you out, just ask. And God Bless You.

Any amount you can give, big or small helps.
Kindly Send Donation To:

Help 4 Maria
c/o Delta Pi
P.O. Box 14644
Reno, NV 89503
OR
Donate to Account Number 6123685494 at your local Wells Fargo Bank
OR
e-mail help4maria@yahoo.com for more details, information, to send a message of support and encouragement, etc.

Please Help Maria and Her Family Keep Her Alive and Well!

The News

On Monday, April 19th, 2010 our family was given some shocking news.

Over the course of about one week Maria's, mother of the family, stomach had gone from post-menopausal to "[looking] like she's 8 months pregnant," said Ron, father of the family. She was admitted to Concord Hospital in New Hampshire where "they took great care of [us]," reflected Maria.

After a CT Scan (I think that's what it was - I am slowly learning all the terminology for everything) and draining of over a half gallon of fluids (pretty sure a laparotomy but could have been laparoscopy) from her tiny little 5'1", normally 110 pound body, the doctors were convinced it is cancer. The biopsy is still in progress so we do not yet have a precise diagnosis.

After reading forums on cancer online and realizing how empowering, settling, enlightening, heartwarming and real they can make the situation for you, which helps one deal and cope with the situation:

I, Monica, daughter of Maria, am creating this blog as an outlet for each member of our family, if they choose, to submit writings on their experience throughout the process.

It is my hope that this blog will not only help all of us bond together by processing our feelings together but also will help other families and patients diagnosed with cancer.

Together, we shall persevere. Thank you everyone for your support throughout this process.

Gosh, mom, Monday seems like 2 months ago after everything that I've experienced this week. I wonder what it must feel like for you?

We love you so much, mom.