It’s been a very long time friends and family. I’m sorry for the lack of updating. There have been many times I’ve thought about writing. I’ve had topics and events that I’ve wanted to share but I never was disciplined enough to do it. Looking back on the last post I realize it’s been even longer than I thought since I’ve given a medical update.

I am sitting at my computer right now, sweating buckets (thank you early menopausal hot flashes due to chemo) and feeling lousy to be honest. I’m queasy and about to crawl out of my skin I’m so anxious. Tomorrow is scan day in Houston at Baylor and I’m good and scared. Foolishly I thought this may get easier but I think it has only gotten harder. This is fueled by knowing the last time I went to Baylor for scans in July I got the news that there were more tumors in my liver. Take that experience, match it up with some days of feeling icky and knowing my diet hasn’t been clean enough and I haven’t meditated enough or done yoga or done any of the things that make me feel like I’m ok and that equals BLAH. Blah, blah, blah. I am so over all this. I hate it. I hate that I’m scared, hate that I think about food constantly, hate that this is how my life is. Hate that my bedside table is full of self-help books that are great a lot of the time and make me feel like shit some of the time. I’m just in a hateful mood people.

You know me, never one to sugar-coat. So, this post is happening not because I feel compelled to write but because I need your help. Here are the facts: My last scan on December 15 didn’t show any signs of cancer. Good news. It also showed that the infection in my liver was healing nicely. Good too. That was 3 months ago. The joy and relief of that scan are long ago forgotten (unfortunately) and a clean scan only means it WAS clean. Doesn’t mean diddly-poo for the next one. My reserves are low (clearly) and I haven’t been in a good head-space so I’m just expecting the worst and that’s not good for me or for my body. So here’s where you come in. I need for your prayers, good energy and hopes to focus on seeing me being happy on Tuesday March 22 when I get the results. Please make it positive, whatever you pray hope or see for me. I am struggling to do this for myself so if you all could do that for me, that would be really wonderful.

Thank you.

xoxo Hilary

I just finished reading Kristin Armstrong’s latest article in Tribeza Magazine, a local Austin publication. I have a bit of a girl crush on Kristin through her honest musings about life as a single mother of three. She is the ex-wife of Lance which has nothing to do with who she is today, or maybe it has everything to do with it. Regardless, she is wise and funny and her writing makes me feel like I’ve pulled up a stool at her kitchen counter to sip coffee and catch up.

In “Pet Projects” Kristin goes through all the responsibilities her son would have should she get him the puppy he so desired for his 16th birthday. Despite her efforts to dissuade him, her son Luke is steadfast and the puppy is purchased. True to her word, the puppy is her son’s total responsibility including getting up at night to take him out, crate training him and not leaving the puppy alone for extended periods of time. Pee happens on the carpets, crate training doesn’t go well, Luke misses out on all the fun things a sixteen year old wants to do with his friends and everyone is exhausted. After 10 days Luke realizes he is not able to care for the puppy and they agree to take him back to the breeder who is a personal friend. Kristin shares how much she would like to raise the puppy herself because he’s so darn cute and will grow up to be a really great dog. She knows however she can’t step in that way and save Luke. She draws a parallel between the puppy and a baby saying to him that should he have a baby instead of a puppy, there is no return policy. The lesson it seems is not lost on Luke as he feels parenthood can probably wait until he’s 40.

The story reminds me of when we got a puppy, the summer of 2014. This would be about 6 months after my cancer diagnosis and I was still doing chemo. Charlotte had been wanting a puppy and really, let’s be honest, so did I. Phin and Charles were not really on board. Maisey came into our lives from the shelter and she was truly adorable. I began the crate training process and dutifully took her out several times at night. She was a puppy so of course she wanted to chew everything and she peed and pooped everywhere. I was not willing to let her trash my house so I adopted the leash around my waist method to keep her close when I needed to do things like cook a meal. I spent the majority of my days following her around watching for signs she needed to go out and keeping her little active jaws full of dog toys so the flip flops could be spared.

About three weeks into this new routine, I cracked much like Luke. I realized I was in over my head. Our beloved cat Benjie ceased coming into the house at all which greatly impacted Phin who didn’t want to get a dog in the first place because he was afraid it would drive Benjie away. Charles who clearly did NOT sign on for the dog purchase was tolerating the whole business but wasn’t a willing partner. I was feeling guilty that I brought the puppy into the house without full support from Charles. This meant I didn’t have the luxury of the 2:00 am, “Sweetie, can you please take Maisey out this time, I’m exhausted” tag team deal we had when the kids were little and cried out in the night. I could not afford to be losing sleep, adding more stress to my life and feeling like I should be apologetic to my husband (again, self imposed) while fighting for my life. Truth be told, about 3 days into Maisey’s arrival I saw the writing on the wall and told Charles I should return her to the shelter but in a wave of I’m not sure what, he said we couldn’t do that to the kids (kid really, Phin would have been elated).

Like Kristin I knew this was a great dog, that she would grow up to be all the good things pets can be in our lives. I wanted to push through so we could fast forward to all that greatness. Here’s the thing. I had to put myself and my family first. I was doing chemo, it was summer, my kids were out of school and not spending their days at camp. I was afraid to ask Charles to do anything connected to the puppy not because he would yell or be snippy about it but because I knew that I had brought a level of stress to our family that we could not and really should not be enduring. We were already enduring so much. I had to accept that I would disappoint Charlotte in a way that I could barely handle especially since getting the puppy in the first place felt like a way to give her joy after so much joylessness in our lives.

Luke realized he wasn’t mature enough yet to take on the responsibility of another living thing. In time this would change but right now at 16, it wasn’t attainable. Kristin learned she could either raise a great dog or make a decision that would ultimately help her son assess his capabilities, make sound decisions based on those capabilities and attain his own greatness.

Maisey reminded me that on our journey to greatness we must remember to assess our own limitations so that we have the space and energy to attain greater goals. Am I taking care of myself? Am I tending to my own garden? Are my decisions having a negative or positive impact on those that are closely tied to me? Charlotte in her wise and wonderful ways took the experience of re-homing Maisey with great maturity. I’m not kidding myself, it was really rough for her despite her tough exterior. When she is feeling untethered she occasionally will call from her bed before falling asleep that she misses Maisey. It took me a year to unravel the complexities of that call. Maisey gave us great highs as well as great lows. We got a puppy! Our family is ok, everything is normal. We had to give the puppy away because Mom has cancer. There is a mighty blow in that reality.

Charlotte’s Maisey call is as simple as the complexities of life. She wants the dog back so she can feel the ok-ness of our decision to get a dog. That solid ground under her feet. Charlotte and I have talked about her Maisey call and what it really means to her. We both know it is a call for reassurance that we will get back on solid ground, that we will get to greatness. I have said it 100 times, Maisey was the perfect dog at the wrong time. Just because we want something doesn’t mean we’re ready for it. Maybe we need to tune in to ourselves, to the people around us to assess what we need now. Get our feet planted firmly on the ground, listen to our breath, our hearts and slowly move toward greatness.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and those you are celebrating with today here in the physical world as well as the people who are no longer here but have a seat at your table and in your heart, always.

xoxo Hilary

Hi Everyone,
I am happy to report I am not writing this from the hospital. We’ve made some good progress on teasing out why things have gone awry. As predicted, having my doctor out of town meant being my own advocate times 100 to get the care I needed. Thank God for Katharine Lord, PA extraordinaire and Dr. Fain from Tx Oncology. They got me in today to see what they could figure out and facilitated blood work as well as getting in touch with the doctor that was covering for my doctor. Without boring you with the details it took 5 different people including me and two days to finally get in front of the covering doctor late this afternoon.

Here’s what I learned today: I was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic I’ve been on for the past month. Today I have switched my antibiotic regime to 2 other drugs and my infusion schedule changed from 3 thirty minute doses every 8 hours to one 1.5 hour dose at 7am and one 2 hours dose (2 different meds) at 6:30 pm. Very doable. This schedule will continue until Nov 15 and hopefully not longer. We did another CT scan yesterday and it was determined I don’t need to get a drain put back in. The infection is in my liver but a small part is outside the liver under my lung. Hopefully this area will resolve over time with the drug treatment. This is currently causing my pain when I breathe in.

My white blood counts are very low (these are your fighter cells) due to the antibiotic so I have to avoid sick people and wash my hands a lot.

I actually feel a lot better today than I have over the past 5 days. I started off my morning by wearing my new roller blades. They were a gift from Charles and the kids for my birthday. Rolling around during the morning routine was really fun and a great way to start the day!

Despite my birthday being sort of a shitty one on many levels, feeling crummy, having a CT scan and chasing down doctors, it was also sprinkled with the most wonderful gifts from so many of you in the form of cards and gifts in the mail, flowers, gifts left on my doorstep, texts, emails, phone calls and visits. To those of you that sang happy birthday to me over the phone, and all of you know who you are, thank you, it’s the very best! Being remembered in any way is an absolute gift. I was in a sea of love from so many people and trust me when I say it was overwhelming in the best possible way. I have wonderful people in my life and I always have and that is the best possible form of riches I can think of.

I got flowers from three people and they all gave me sunflowers which I think is pretty amazing. Sara Beem was one of those friends that sent me sunflowers and she also sent me the meaning of this type of flower which I never knew, thanks Sara! :

The sunflower has been adopted as as a symbol of happiness, strength, a love of the sun and sunlight. It is said to always turn its face to the sun and is considered by some to be a symbol of faith. Some believe that the sunflower represents a constant search for light, or enlightenment. The Chinese believe sunflowers symbolize long life and good luck.

Shine on everyone
Nite Nite,
xoxo Hilary

A few Halloween shots:
Cheetah

Phin and Kenneth ???
Sonny and Cher

Hi Everyone,

A quick update. I got the dreaded drain out last Wednesday however lady luck does not seem to be shining on me. Hours before the drain came out, I started getting the same pain I had when we first discovered the infection. That pain has persisted the last 5 day and tonight I am running a fever which is not a good sign. Dr. Bagwell, my infection doctor is out of town this week (of course!) so tomorrow will be spent trying to get ANOTHER CT scan (honestly just keep radiating me) so we can see what’s going on. When I voiced my concern last week to Dr. Bagwell he said if the pain persists (which it has) we will have to place another drain in a slightly different area to drain whatever puss is remaining in the liver. The antibiotic can’t penetrate puss unfortunately. This means having the drain procedure with sedation then spending anywhere from one night to many nights like I did 2 weeks ago in the hospital. Depressing is one word I can come up with for this and FUCK is another.

However, what’s a girl to do? Tomorrow is my birthday and although most of it will be spent managing my latest health crisis I will try my very hardest to be joyful and present.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween. We had a great time with friends and family in our enchanted neighborhood.

My friend and neighbor Andrew Ellison lost his father unexpectedly today. Please keep him and his family in your prayers tonight.

xoxo
Hilary

Greetings from Seton Hospital. I am still here and truly making the most of it. I have moved into a suite, so I have a bedroom that connects to a lounge area with a couch and side table with a lamp, a desk with a chair which is where I am typing from and a window and a TV. I feel like the Jeffersons…moving on up!

I will be here as long as my little JP drain continues to drain infected matter out of me. Better out than in right? I can be patient because I DO NOT want to come back here for this issue. Dr. Bagwell has been pretty clear that he could send me home with the drain but chances are, things could go awry and I could end up back here which would be a set-back. I am NOT into any more set-backs.

I have settled into a rhythm here at the hospital. After a night of changing sheets and gowns a few times due to cold sweats, I get up and shower, get dressed and then get hooked up for my morning 4 hour infusion of Zosyn antibiotic. Some beautiful friend or Becca brings me a smoothie or juice from Juiceland for breakfast. I spend the morning getting things done on the computer, I ordered a trampoline for the kids, something Charles and I have been talking about and decided now is the time! Jumping is not only super fun for the kids but also really good for one’s lymph system. So neighborhood and local Moms, Dads and friends, once it arrives, we expect you to come jump – we will have a bin full of maxi-pads for you ladies that trickle when you jump…(oh don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about). A side note in case you haven’t heard this legendary Bruce Family tale… When Becca and I were kids we got an Olympic sized trampoline for Christmas one year. Mom bought it from a gymnastics organization that was going under. We grew up in Philadelphia so winter meant cold, snowy weather. Who wants to jump in the snow? Not the Bruce girls. We grew up in a beautiful house that was built in 1859 and built for the times – meaning a big house with an elevator, servants quarters and all the formalities of an estate fit for a wealthy family in the 1800’s. What this meant for us was that the ceilings on our first floor were very high – I think 14 feet or more. And we had ample space. Space enough to devote the “Sun room” as the winter home for our trampoline. Becca and I even had trampoline lessons there where we perfected front and back flips and aerials. No net, and glass floor to ceiling french doors on two of the three walls that surrounded the trampoline.
Here is the Sun-room – it used to be a beautiful peach color – this photo is from when the house was last up for sale a year or so ago. You get the idea though.

This post has been dragging on…I started it on the 13th and it’s now the 15th. Dr. Bagwell decided to spring me from the hospital yesterday despite the drain still doing it’s thing. He figured I could handle doing the drain at home (flushing it and keeping track of the output). I now take the IV antibiotic every 8 hours through my port. The infusion time is 30 minutes. It’s a bit of a hassle but doable. Today I went to a conference downtown and had to do my infusion in the bathroom. The medicine comes in a little ball that deflates slowly while attached to my port by a little tube. I put the little medicine ball in my bra between the girls and nobody was the wiser as I sat through the luncheon. (Thanks Irma for the idea!). Hiding a drain and an IV isn’t easy but if you wear the right outfit, it can be done. I think I will need to invest in a few more billowy shirts.

I am so happy to be home, having dinner with my family, listening to my two cats hiss at each other (that’s what I’m listening to now), taking the kids to school, walking around my neighborhood with my sister, reading to Char, helping Phin with homework and waking up next to Charles. Thank you for the flowers and the meals at the hospital and the visits in the hospital and the rides for our kids and all the ways you’ve cared for us yet again. I will be on the IV drugs until Nov 13 and I don’t know when the drain will come out. I can’t start chemo until the infection is all clear. I am hoping I will be on the IV drugs less than the 6 weeks total that’s planned but I probably shouldn’t count on that. I’m almost 2 weeks into that 6 weeks.

In the meantime I will meet on Tuesday with the doctor that will be working with Dr. LaValley on my anti-cancer protocol. As soon as I get established with this doctor then I can start taking the supplements and any other medications Dr. LaValley decides on. I’m anxious to get started.

Charlotte wrote me this poem and gave it to me in the hospital, I love it. It’s all so true.

Time to do the IV drugs.
Nite, Nite,
xoxo

Hello Everyone,
I apologize for not updating sooner but to be honest I haven’t had the energy. I think we left off with me not going to chemo on the appointed day. So many crappy things have happened since then to two big ones being I’ve lost a lot of weight again – roughly 15 or so pounds. Same reason I lost it nearly two years ago, fear and control (or lack thereof). And I’ve been in the hospital at Seton in Austin since last Friday, October 2 with an infection in my liver from surgery. I’m still here.

Perhaps that little voice inside my head that told me not to start chemo was wise after all. If I had started, this infection surely would have festered longer and would have been that much harder to treat. Chemo can’t begin until this clears up. I have a drain that is clearing the puss (ooooh pretty) from my liver while I am being hammered with IV antibiotics. I have to stay in the hospital until the drain is ready to come out – I was banking on this Monday but it may be mid-week. Once I leave the hospital I will need to be on IV antibiotics for another 5 weeks. This will be done through my port. (oh Ms. Julie I guess it’s good I didn’t get it out after all…) I will be trained on how to do this through the office staff of my newest team member, the very smart, affable, takes his time with me, infectious disease guru, Dr. Todd Bagwell. He sees me here at Seton and he’s calling the shots as far as this infection goes. It is a strep infection in case you were really wanting to know and happened post-op. It didn’t show up in blood work even last Friday when I came into the ER for a low grade fever. (us cancer peeps are trained to run to the nearest ER when there’s a fever.) A CT scan finally revealed this lovely.

I have felt unwell since surgery August 17. Truly. My little spirit has been fluttering on the floor nowhere near enough energy or faith for it to soar. This infection is most likely why. Once we got the bilirubin issue fixed which gave me 2 weeks of nausea, this infection was starting to brew and kept me feeling icky. This is the ugly side of cancer – oh wait, that would imply there’s a pretty side. This is the underbelly of cancer, I’m really understanding that what often kills cancer patients is not the cancer but the complications from treatment. Your body gets worn out, your spirit gets broken and you no longer have the energy, the will, the faith to go forward. Being thin, feeling sick physically makes me feel down. It pulls me so far from my identity I start to lose Hilary. Small tasks like walking to the bathroom feel gargantuan. Your life becomes so small and isolated. This is where I have been some days. At home before I came into the hospital I was just trying to put one foot in front of the other and show up for my kids.

Once I got to the hospital it was a rapid spiral downwards. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, hospitals are not place to heal. The infection made me feel sick, the antibiotics did the same. I’ve had veins blow and screamed out in pain when the blood draw failed to yield blood and instead gave me another bruise. The people here are nice, it’s their job. I came in here broken and then I broke some more.

Then Thursday night after a shitty, shitty day I started to feel a little better. Charles and the kids were coming for pizza and a movie in my room. I rearranged the bed and furniture in my room and we had a really nice family night, all on my bed – raised as high as it would go (which is pretty high) thanks to Charlotte. That’s healing. Yesterday I had a break from the IV pole and was “FREE”. I walked home. It was lovely. I saw my kids, my husband, my cats, my sister, nephews and my neighbors. I was also walking down my street from a neighbors towards my house and got to shock and surprise friends Molly and Charlotte who were getting out of their UBER ride from the airport to visit. They were supposed to come to my house, see my family, grab my car and meet me at the hospital. Molly sees me from far away walking towards my house and she says to Charlotte, “that looks like Hills”, and Molly yells “Becca! You look so much like Hills” and I yell back, “It’s me, it’s Hills!” Those of you that know Molly Carroll know that speechless isn’t something she often is, but she was speechless. It was priceless.

So here I sit right now typing on a gorgeous Austin day in my hospital room with Molly, Charlotte and Amy Pappas who is a college friend. Amy is here for the ACL music fest. I have had wonderful visitors, orchids galore delivered, notes, meals delivered so I don’t have to eat hospital food, drawings, crystals and even a package delivered here to my hospital room which was a first – thank you Rox, Lindsay and Shanley for the gorgeous green shawl. So kind.

So the plan is to stay here until the drain stops draining then I go home to do IV drugs on a every 8 hours schedule – 30 minutes infusion time each time. THEN I can get back to dealing with this cancer re occurrence or whatever you want to call it. I’ll do some chemo, SOME chemo, don’t know yet how much and I will start working with Dr. LaValley who is a molecular biologist and he will be working up a protocol for me that is molecular targeted for my cancer cells. The protocol will consist of supplements and off-label medications. That’s the plan.

What can you do? Pray for me and my family that we will continue to have the strength to do what we need to do so we can get our lives back and endure what we need to so I can be cancer free. Do something kind for someone whenever you can because it always makes a difference. Private battles are always going on.

The infection is getting better. There’s an area outside the liver that seems to be infection also but we aren’t sure. Hopefully it’s not cancer, it is a possibility. I’ll try to be better about keeping you up to date. I have a lot a lot of healing to do. One day at a time.

xoxo Hilary

Today as it turns out was not the day for me to start chemo. I woke up early for my procedure (endoscopy to remove stent) and just felt like no, I am not feeling right with this today, so I’m going to go with my gut and not do it today. It felt too rushed and I don’t like rushing into things, especially when it has to do with my health.

I may go in next Monday or the Monday after that or not at all, I am still deciding. I know this seems crazy to many of you and it just may well be me being crazy but I think in all fairness to myself, I am not crazy for wanting to feel good about my decisions. Going in today felt like I was rushing towards something just because I thought I should.

The removal of the stent went well. My family got up at the crack of dawn to get me to the procedure, blankets and PJ’s for Phin and Char in the back seat. Sainted sister Becca met me there at 6:30 am to be there before and after. The people at Dr. Gagneja’s office were so very kind and I was rolling out of there by 7:30am.

That’s the latest. I am at home taking it easy per my discharge instructions and giving myself permission to just be today and not figure anything out.

xoxo

Hello!
I have been MIA. My apologies. It’s been all about one foot in front of the other these days so things that require extra effort just aren’t happening.

I should do a longer in depth post but that energy thing is keeping me from doing so. If you dislike long posts then this one will please you!

After 12 days in the hospital I got out and followed up with both my surgeon and my MDA oncologist, Dr. Javle. The path report from surgery was a bummer for us as it revealed two things that weren’t expected. One was that the tumor my surgeon removed was bifocal which means there were 2 other cancerous tumors hiding behind the one we already knew about. He took them all out. The second piece of unwanted news was that when inspecting these tumors there appeared to me microscopic vascular invasion which means stray cancer cells my be going into my lymph system again. We don’t know this for sure. This is enough of a concern that my MDA doctor wants me to go back on chemo.

I feared he would recommend this and I have struggled, truly struggled with what to do. I do have other more integrative people I discuss these things with and without going into it now, there are some other options that seem way more appealing to me. The issue is I would need to get these other options put into play within the next two weeks and I don’t think I can pull that off.

So my MDA oncologist has recommended 8 rounds (4 months) of modified FOLFOX
oxaliplatin 85 mg/ over 2 hours on day 1
5-Fluorouracil 2400 mg continuous infusion over 46 hours starting on day 1
I have a week on then a week off, repeat.

This would be a new drug treatment for me and a new infusion schedule. I have not had the good fortune until now to go home with a “fanny pack” of medicine that slowly drips into my body for 2 full days. I want to do this as much as I want to drive nails through my finger tips with a hammer. I simply believe my body and immune system are not real happy with this type of treatment, whatever particular drugs they are. So I have committed to the first round which starts tomorrow. Everything past that is on a let me decide when I get there basis. I will not do 8 rounds. I think that’s too many. Four seems reasonable, unless that’s too many. In the meantime I will be plotting my other plans for treatment which do not involve chemo but could include some off label drugs. More on this as it evolves.

Before chemo tomorrow morning I will get up at 5:00 am and go to see Dr. Gagneja who put a temporary stent in my bile duct when I was in the hospital in Austin. He did this so all that bile that was swirling around my liver could drain out. Tomorrow morning at 6:30 I will get the stent out which is a much easier process then it was to get put in. It’s in his office and out patient and I will be under the influence of the “Micheal Jackson” drug. It will be similar to an endoscopy and non-invasive (no slicing me open).

So stent removal and chemo is what is on my Monday morning schedule. I’ve been tired, depressed, pissed off and generally not in a good place. I am clawing my way out a little each day. Charles too has been in the depths so if you are reading this and you are one of his close peeps, he could use some people to drag him towards the light.

I will get to where I want to be, cancer free. The path has so many damn thorny branches that it’s hard to see past them to the blazing light. I have Faith it’s there even if I can’t see it right now.

Nite nite,
Sweet dreams,
xoxo
Hilary

Thank you to everyone who has asked about giving to the Saltzmans, honestly your support has made a HUGE difference in Hilary’s healing. I wanted to give you all a bit more information on the healing services as well as an option to give to a General Healing Fund and not have to choose. Below are the costs of the services that support Hilary’s healing. Giving $50 (1 yoga session), $75 (1 acupuncture session), $100 (1+ massage to keep Charles in check), $125 (1/2 week of healing food) to the General Fund is a great way to help them now!

Sage Acupuncture ($75/session) – Hilary goes 1 or 2 times a week. – Michelle – 512-968-2605 http://reproductiveacupuncture.com

Massage for Hilary and Charles – ($85 for 60 minutes) a perfect stress reduction once month – Negeen Mosely – South Congress Massage – 512-445-7455 www.socomassage.com

Food for health- Shahnaz ($250/week) – Shahnaz Baday – 512-905-3228 email: mamashahnaz@gmail.com

Restorative Yoga ($50/session) Hilary has worked with Upma since her diagnosis Upma Chauhan – 617-435-4358 – Hilary goes once a week.

Energy Work ($120/session) – Jacqueline Chan – 415-717-9954 and she prefers a text message. Hilary uses this as needed.

Therapy ($125 session) – once a week.

Give to a General Fund – You can send funds directly to Charles’ PayPal account. There are no fees if paying from “friend to friend” if inside the US. 1- You need to create an account of your own (free) if you do not already have. 2- Once you have an account you “send to family and friends” to Charles’ PayPal account which is: csaltzman00@gmail.com 3- then you chose an amount you want to send and if you want to send a note.

Log onto: www.paypal.com (to sign into your PayPal account or to create one)

If you want to give anonymously – you can send to my PayPal account and I will make sure the funds are sent to Hilary’s General Healing Fund. My PayPal account is: becbrudobb@gmail.com – My address is Becca Dobberfuhl, 1905 Eva Street, Austin, TX 78704 if you want to send me a check.

Another option is to contribute to Hilary’s GoFundMe site (NOTE: this site charges 8%) so if you want all the funds to go directly to Hilary please use the PayPal account. http://www.gofundme.com/5fza28

As always THANK YOU!! xo becca

Thank you to everyone who has asked for ways to give to Hilary. She is going to ramp up all her integrative care which comes out of pocket, sadly insurance does not cover. Many have asked how you can help and honestly the best way is financially contributing to these extra expenses. These are ongoing expenses for their family that are an extra financial strain but crucial to Hilary’s well-being. Below are some services that I know she would love help on. I would recommend calling or emailing and asking if you can buy a gift certificate or if not then can send money directly to the vendor/person.

Hilary goes to Michelle for acupuncture regularly and this is a wonderful gift that she will use. Sage Acupuncture – Michelle – 512-968-2605  http://reproductiveacupuncture.com

Massage for Hilary and Charles – a perfect stress reduction – Negeen Mosely – South Congress Massage – 512-445-7455 www.socomassage.com

Food for health- Shahnaz has cooked for Hilary in the past and knows a lot about food and cancer – Shahnaz Baday – 512-905-3228 email: mamashahnaz@gmail.com

Restorative Yoga – Hilary has worked with Upma since her diagnosis Upma Chauhan – 617-435-4358

Energy Work – Jacqueline Chan – 415-717-9954 and she prefers a text message.

If anyone wants to give anonymously you can send me a check and I can then give Hilary the cash. Or if there is something specific you want to do feel free to contact me and I will do my best to help out. Becca Dobberfuhl 512-633-8359 or becbrudobb@gmail.com

Thank you all again for all the love and support!  xo becca