An introduction

A little over three years ago, a spot was seen on Aaron's lungs. She was pregnant at the time, so not much could be done. After the baby was born, it was determined that Aaron had lung cancer. She was operated on, and went through chemotherapy and all was good. Up until this spring (2007) when Aaron discovered a lump near her lymph nodes.

Once again, Aaron went through chemo and radiation and all was good. Until a week after she finished the latest course of treatment. And another spot was discovered on her lungs. We hoped it would be pneumonia, except that it didn't respond to antibiotics and kept growing. Several scans later, it was determined to be a cancerous spot. An operation would be too dangerous as the tumor is in a place with many many blood vessels.

So, Aaron is at a point where nothing can really be done, other than treat her symptoms. Aaron's mom, Glenda, was told by the doctor that she might as well give up her apartment as Aaron will not be able to live on her own, again.

Aaron has not had an easy life. She was born with Cerebral Palsy. CP affects everyone differently. For Aaron it resulted in near blindness and very poor balance. She spent three months in a body cast as a teenager, wore leg braces for several years and has endured numerous operations on her legs and feet. One day I will get all the technical details of what she has gone through and post those.

She is 31, has a three year old son, Kyle and an 11 year old daughter, Tiffani. She has not had much money in her lifetime and has not had a lot of the luxuries that much of the US takes for granted.

However, Aaron has always had a good sense of humor and attitude about her life. There are four things she has expressed a desire for in this final stretch. She would like to taste lobster and cotton candy on a stick. She'd like a double hospital bed and she would like to visit Disney World. The lobster and cotton candy are easily doable. We might be able to manage the bed through Medicaid. But Disney World seems a little out of reach right now.

So that is where this blog comes in. I would like to raise $5000 to send Aaron, her mom and the kids to Disney World for a week. Aaron is far too old for programs like the Make-A-Wish foundation. She would never have been so bold as to ask the world for $5000. But my thought is, if it worked for Save Karyn, why not for someone who never even thought to buy a Prada bag? The trip will cost about $3500- for airfare, hotel, rental car and Disney passes. The additional money is so that they have a little spending money. If we manage to raise more than that, hey, maybe Aaron will get that bed, after all.