Meal Train® for KJ Ramsey

Special Instructions

Many readers of KJ’s books locally and beyond have kindly offered to bring meals or offer support for the Ramseys. Our local embodied community will be bringing meals, but KJ and Ryan would like to accept some support from their broader community in gratitude, too. In the interest of privacy, we have a couple ways you can support KJ + Ryan with a meal or care: 1) Sunday morning meal drop-off at Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (601 N. Tejon, Colorado Springs, CO 80903), around the 10:30am service time. Drop-off can be arranged with Ryan or Melisa for before, after, or during. Details will be sent with meal sign-up. 2) DoorDash or Grubhub gift cards! 3) Any Venmo (@kjramseywrites) or Paypal gifts to support meals/healthy groceries, offer a little self-care, probably purchase a power wheelchair, and/or go towards a vacation fund because, holy hell, both Ramseys need A BREAK. Info should be linked in a confirmation email but you can also find it linked on KJ’s instagram. 4) PS KJ can receive mail at: KJ Ramsey PO Box 26205 Colorado Springs CO 80936 MORE INFO: The Ramseys need some relief. On April 10th, KJ learned she had an aggressive tumor. It’s been a constant, beautiful, and brutal saga ever since. Three surgeries in three months—two at Mayo Clinic in MN, mind-bending amounts of medical administration, ongoing treatment for lupus and other severe diseases, many ER visits, high-dose steroids, and disease flares so bad KJ’s mostly bed-bound and using a wheelchair. With the support of Ryan, friends, and KJ’s medical team, this season also held mind-blowing amounts of joy. After spending 3 years fighting to stay alive, rebuilding her health, and writing her first memoir, KJ decided to soak up as much joy as possible in another, shockingly brutal season instead of waiting for life to get easier. Between tumor surgeries, KJ published her memoir THE PLACE BETWEEN OUR PAINS on May 19th, was delighted to stand in her sister’s wedding May 30th (days before surgery at Mayo), flew across America for 11 book tour events meeting her beloved readers, and generally squeezed in more medical support, laughter, and connection with loved ones than should have been possible in 3/4 months. Some seasons are like that—you look back and have no idea how you did it, except that you were carried. This past week, KJ received a new titanium port at Mayo Clinic—a medical device the Ramseys *never* thought KJ would be able to get again after the story in her memoir from exactly 3 years ago. The Ramseys are overjoyed KJ can keep access to life-saving treatment for decades to come. During her first month post-op, KJ must stay within a 15-30 min radius of hospitals, armed with a double set of 3 different emergency injections. (Let’s not reprise episodes of House this time, okay?) Recovery is going well, but KJ’s body is in rough shape around all of these surgeries and challenges, with Lupus/Sjogrens Disease and Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG) flaring terribly since April. She has a lot of rest, trauma therapy sessions with her own therapist, staring at the wall, grieving, writing poems, and hard treatment changes ahead. Ryan’s been a champion of a caregiver, but as you can imagine, both Ryan and KJ are exhausted. Both need a break, so badly… We’ve planned meals through mid-October, as KJ has a long way to go to get healthy, is facing treatment in-hospital, and needs to lighten her burden. It’s time to rest. It’s time to take in all the goodness. It’s time to let others lift this burden a little bit.