On Thu, Jul 10, 2014 at 10:44 AM, Anthony Zeoli <az@digitalstrategyworks.com> wrote:
Hi everyone,
I rarely write anything about my personal life, but I thought this was super important to put out there and see what kind of help might be available.
One of my wife's best friends, Ann, has stage 4 cancer and has now opted into hospice, as she's at the point in her treatment where they say there's no more they can do. Ann has been battling cancer for 7-years. We first went to support her in Boston when she was being seen there and had to have a double mastectomy. A year or so later, we did the Komen Walk in NYC with her through Central Park. It was a very emotional day - walking with someone who you actually knew that was trying to beat the cancer that started invading her body. A year or so after the walk, the Cancer went to her hip and she had to have hip replacement surgery.
Over the past two-years, she tried this special trial program in Seattle for stage 4 cancer patients. While that helped some, it didn't force all the cancer into remission and it just kept on coming back.
Well, it's 7-years later and the battle is now over. She knows its over. The doctors know it's over. We just visited her in Virginia, where she spent a few weeks for the last time with family and friends. She's back in Fairbanks, Alaska, which she chose to make her home since she left the Virginia and D.C. area many years ago, to just wait for what happens next. We talked to her last night and the one thing that people in hospice know is that they feel their life no longer has a purpose. They are just waiting as the clock ticks down.
Ann's only wish is to see the house that her and her boyfriend have been building for 3-years finally completed, so she can spend her last days in that home. Recently, the contractor they hired to do the interior did a ton of things wrong, like ordering the wrong size custom doors, building steps that were out of alignment and different sizes, and a few other stupid things. They paid him and now he's MIA and won't respond to them to fix the problems that he caused.
I know Alaska is far and how would anyone in NYC be able to help someone in Alaska with her wish and her dream. I don't know either, so I thought I'd put it out there on the list to see who I might connect with here that has an idea or a connection with an interested party who might want to help her. I'm not asking for a donation, I'm thinking there must be a brand out there that wants to do something for someone, because they care.
We don't know how long Ann has left. Could be a few weeks. Could be a few months. So, I am appealing to my network here to ask if anyone knows anyone in Alaska. Anyone maybe at Home Depot, Lowes or Ace Hardware. Or anyone at a TV network that has these home remodeling shows, who may want to help see this project through to completion over the next few weeks, so Ann can get into her home and spend her final days in a place that she has dreamed about living in for so long, but seems to be just out of reach at this moment.
If so, please contact my wife, Missy Gluckmann, off list at info[at]melibeeglobal.com. Thanks so much and sorry for posting something so off topic to the list. We just thought we'd try anything to see if we could turn this around for her.
Best regards,
Tony Zeoli