'You do not have, because you do not ask'

I have never been great at asking for help. I'm not good at receiving help either. But this time is different...it isn't for me. And plus, so many people have been asking how they can help. So, this post is going to give you all the options of how you can help us in this process to get our precious friend, Ana Maria, here to have the surgery to remove the brain tumor.

We do not have any further details on when the surgery will be or how much we will even need, so that makes this part a little bit harder but I don't want to lose momentum.

What we are aiming for right now is for her to fly to the states on Tuesday, May 8th and hopefully have the surgery shortly thereafter.

So here's what we need:

(I am going to list them out, starting out with the really crazy, impractical questions/needs. I was encouraged by a friend the other day to ask for the things that seem too big to ask for. She said (quoting the book of James) 'you have not because you ask not.' And she said, 'you never know who might be out there, able to meet that need.'

So here goes nothing:

1. does anyone have a plane? haha! That sounds so ridiculous to ask but there are people out there who have access to private planes and as far as I can figure, that would be the easiest way to get her here.
2.  does anyone have airline points or friends/family benefits that we can use if we have to fly her commercial?
3. Charleston friends: do you know anyone with any pull at MUSC that might be able to help us get the hospital fees reduced even more? (or completely waived!)
4. Money. we need money. I don't know how much yet - but I know that we will be responsible for 50% of the hospital stay and any follow up outpatient care she will need. I imagine this will not be a small bill. If you are able to give at all, please send me an email at lizbailey1978@gmail.com and I will tell you how to get it to me. I am hoping to set up a pay pal account soon to make it even easier to donate but until then, you can send checks.
5. Spanish speakers. We will need help while Ana Maria is in Charleston to help with translating. If you speak fluent Spanish and would be willing to accompany her to an appointment, please let me know. We are hoping that her son, Owaldy, will be able to be with her most of her stay. He is in college in Ohio and speaks English fluently but we want to have some other Spanish speaking people as options.
6. Housing. We think we've got this figured out but if you are interested in hosting Ana Maria and Owaldy for a night or 2 or know of a place she can stay, contact me.
7.  PRAY! I have been overwhelmed by the support we have had over the last several weeks and could without a doubt feel your prayers last week while I was in the DR. Keep praying! It's the most valuable weapon we have!

I know there's more - but these are the big, immediate ones. Please contact me if you have any ideas about how you can help...even if it's something that isn't on this list.

Here are a few pics from last week: (more to come later on FB)