Help Helen

Hi everyone,

My name is Jolene and I would like you to meet someone very special to me, my friend Helen. I met Helen when I started my first job fresh out of university. Never have I met someone who can light up a room so quickly with her presence. Helen has this way to her in which she can just make you laugh at any given moment, even when you are angry or sad. Her heart is big and she’s such a caring and giving person and I am very fortunate to have met her. I always tell people who I meet, that God allows certain people to cross our paths for a specific reason. I am still not sure why exactly God made our paths cross, but I am very grateful that they did. Over the past few months, Helen and I grew closer and she became like a mother to me - The fun kind of mother of course, but still the one who makes sure I eat and come home before curfew. In more than one way, I was blessed with her presence.

In October last year we found out that she has Stage 4 colon and liver cancer and to be quite honest, it threw us all a bit off guard. Helen has been so strong and brave these past few months - Going through chemotherapy and her big lifestyle change & I am so proud of her. She’s been so positive and she embraced the rock that got threw in her road. Helen's cancer markers dropped - In 4 months from abnormally high to almost normal and she responded very well to the chemotherapy. Although it helped, she still needed the operation - To remove the tumours from her liver and colon. She underwent the first surgery two weeks ago (Where they successfully removed the colon cancer completely and lesions on the one side of her liver) and will be going in for her second surgery in a week or two where they will be removing a part of her liver. We are putting our faith in God and hoping that Helen can be healthy & healed after the second operation. It’s still a bit of a journey, but Helen has been incredible and I know that she’ll come out okay in the end. I’ve been staying with Helen the past few months and I am thankful that I can be there for her in so many ways - But, there’s one way that I would want to be there for her, but cannot.

Throughout all of this, Helen had to stop working in order to deal with the big C - Meaning no steady income and depending on the money that she has. By the grace of God, Helen has an amazing son who is capable of helping her with her finances, but I also know that she would like to not depend on everyone else financially. Helen also has a younger son that she still needs to support while he is studying and living under her roof. And that’s where I need your help. Imagine your life suddenly got flipped around completely because of medical expenses? It’s expensive - All the appointments, medical aid, etc. Not only the medical expenses that are not covered by the medical aid, but life’s expenses become heavy when you don’t have a steady income. Help me, help Helen. Not just to pay medical expenses, but to make sure that she will have some money that she can use once she is recovered fully from the last surgery. So that she doesn’t have to worry about where the money will come from for the next few months until she can work again or until she figures out what’s next. FInancial stress is the last thing that I want her worrying about when she already has so much to work through. Helen has been there for me so much in the past few months - Taking me in as one of her own kids, supporting me through my own medical problems, picking me up when I am down and making sure that I am always looked after.

It’s my turn to make sure that she will be looked after once I am gone and I cannot do this without your help. I’m asking you to put yourself in my shoes and to imagine that this is someone close to you. You’d want help too, right? I am thanking you in advance and God bless your generous heart.