Our Story

To know Lisa Russell, is to love Lisa Russell.

If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting her, you know her infectious laugh, her smile, her silliness, and her genuine love and zest for life.

She is a woman that has truly dedicated her entire life to helping support and impact the lives of others.

My name is Courtney Russell and Lisa is my mom.

She’s my best friend. My travel buddy. My mentor.

She’s my hero.

Not only is she a mother, a daughter, a LeeLee (grandmother), a sister, an aunt, and cousin to our family….she has played a pivotal role in the lives of so many others. Her clients look at her as an extension of their own family.

On February 29th, we sat in a doctor’s office, staring into the eyes of a man that said the words that will be forever imprinted in my mind.

Cancer.

In a matter of seconds our entire world changed. We both faced the typical fears, worries, sadness, anger, and anxiety that come with that diagnosis, in addition to confusion of what the next steps would be.

However, one thing was clear, this specific Oncologist was not a good fit for our beliefs and views with his treatment approach.

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to work with Lisa or even know Lisa, you know she is an energy worker, a Polarity therapist, a teacher, a coach, a mentor, and a true believer in the body’s ability to heal if given the proper environment and treatment.

Though this is against all conventional medical guidance (I’ll be honest, she’s never been one to follow the “rules”), she knows deep down in her heart that chemo and radiation is not for her.

And so she has decided to seek alternative healing methods that put a focus on healing the entire body, her immunity, the environment, and everything else that will support her body in healing this cancer.

As I’m sure you can imagine, going this route brings enormous courage, but sadly with it massive expenses that insurance will not cover.

On top of the treatments, protocols, therapies with this route adding financial stress is not something my Mom needs at this time yet, she have never been someone to ask for support in this way.

I was just 9 years old and my brother Josh was 13 when my dad unexpectedly passed away back in 1996. I vividly remember her saying she did not want to allow anyone to support her financially or help her in that way and so she worked tirelessly to be able to do it all on her own.

The word superwoman does not do my mom justice and I am so proud that she was able to provide for both my brother Josh and I our entire lives. Today, she actively provides additional financial support to her three grandkids, Ethan, Xavier and Aria.

My mom has been self employed her entire life and as she goes through these next few months of treatment, she will not be able to see clients during this time as she focuses all her energy and time on 100% healing herself.

She is a true giver, with a heart of gold and for the first time in her entire life, begrudgingly might I add, she needs our financial support.

I am putting this GoFundMe together so that she too can receive the love and support that she has given to so many others.

In addition, we will be collecting donations of any denomination or type so we can run an online auction with some great things to win while she is undergoing treatment. If you have an item you can donate on her behalf and that is something more aligned with you, we welcome that as well.

Your positive thoughts, energy, and strength are welcomed and so deeply appreciated. We are believers in faith, in trust, in knowing that even in our darkest moments, there is something greater at play beyond our comprehension.

I think deep down, we know that this is a part of her journey and though incredibly challenging to navigate and many obstacles to overcome, she is going to eventually lead so many others through what traditionally comes with so much fear, hopelessness, sorrow, and dred with not only a different approach, but attitude.

This is extremely important, if you are reading this and have any relation to the LeBlanc family, please do not speak a word of this to anyone that might make Armand and Elaine LeBlanc aware of this situation.

Armand and Elaine are my mom’s parents and my grandparents and currently reside at a nursing home in Lynn. They are both at the age that if they were to find out about this news, we fear the heartbreak and worry would do so much more harm than good.

We plan to share updates with them personally on an as needed basis.

Thank you in advance for respecting our wishes.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading this, for being here, and for being a part in this journey however you feel called and have the ability to do so.

My deepest love and gratitude,

Courtney