I met Lindsey at Girls Camp when I was 15. It was stake camp and she was my tent leader. She was a friend of my older brother's and I had heard quite a bit about her already, so when I finally met this incredible girl I was ecstatic. Girls Camp was a blast that year. Lindsey was the best tent leader a girl could ask for. She was fun, energetic, inspirational, and cared about us individually. I don't have a way to explain how important she was to me and how great of a girl she was, but I wish I could.
The next year I started high school - me a sophomore and she a senior. I saw quite a bit of her that year and in the years since because of Chris and a few other friends who grew up in her neighborhood. I haven't seen tons of her over the past 3 years, but every time I do see her, she is the happiest most energetic and positive girl I've known. Literally. You may say, "Well yeah, there's lots of bubbly girls out there - everyone has one." But you don't know Lindsey's story yet.
Lindsey had her first brain tumor ten years ago in 2000. She was in 9th grade. She was hospitalized for her 2nd round of brain tumors the day after Girls Camp that year I met her. For most of Girls Camp she was pretty sick yet still managed to lift us in every way possible. She had her 3rd round of tumors right before Chris left on his mission in 2005. Each round was about 2 years apart. Each one had to be surgically removed.
For several years after that she was doing really well, none of the tumors had been cancerous and they didn't seem to be coming back. In the summer of 2008 she got married to an incredible guy. They are so happy together. Last August after being married just over 2 years, Lindsey started having problems again. Since none of you know her I won't go into details, but the moral of the story is she was diagnosed with 5 very large, very cancerous tumors. 3 in her neck, 1 on her spine, and 1 in her shoulder. The only hope was one round of radiation and if it failed they had no other medical options - chemotherapy is ineffective and more radiation would kill her. She was in Neuro ICU for a week in August and in and out of it since then. She completed her radiation treatments in October and the only positive was that the tumors had shrunk a tiny bit. In August she was given 1-5 years to live. Over the past few months she had remarkable progress, but this past week she was readmitted to the NICU for a couple of days. The tumors have spread throughout her brain membrane. The new prognosis is a few days to a few weeks.
Every time she is given a prognosis of any sort her response is simple, "Look at me. I'm still here. I'm not giving up." She has gone through so much pain both physical and emotional. She has always been so full of hope and optimism. At one point the fluid in her brain was putting so much pressure on her eye that she was cross-eyed and had to wear an eye patch. What did she do? Got ahold of a pirate hat and hook of course! The only time she's let herself down even for a minute was when the doctors told her that there was no way she could have children. Since then she has been lifting her friends and family constantly in addition to going to events and speaking in behalf of various organizations. She hasn't had a lot of physical strength, but she's tougher than anyone I know.
I know this sounds just like everyone else's story, but truly, Lindsey is something special. I'm making this plug partially so that the few people who read this can know of her, and partially to put her out there. She and her husband Josh need all the help and support they can get. Emotionally and financially. As of November they had over $50,000 in medical bills to pay. This is aside from insurance. The insurance company isn't working with them much. It's a lot to take on for anyone, let alone a 25 year old man trying to deal with the idea of losing his best friend and companion.
Below is a link to the blog that her mother-in-law has been using to update everyone on her condition. It has a link to a pay-pal account that goes directly to Josh and Lindsey's medical bills. I know that most people don't have a lot of extra money to give, and certainly not to give to some stranger, but if you happen to need somewhere to put some money, this is a worthy cause.
Even if you don't have the funds available to help out, take some time to read her story over these past few months. Maybe you'd have to know her for it to mean as much, but she's truly an inspiring person.
Even if you don't have the funds available to help out, take some time to read her story over these past few months. Maybe you'd have to know her for it to mean as much, but she's truly an inspiring person.
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