Help Sherri Fight Her Cancer Battle
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Please help our cousin Sherri fight her battle against Stage 4 Primary Peritoneal Cancer.
Here is her story in her own words--
Of all the things I have done in my life, asking for help is that last thing I thought I'd be doing. I'm fiercely independent, but I've reached a point in my battle against stage 4 primary peritoneal cancer (which wraps around vital organs in the abdomen and peritoneum) where I can't fight it alone. So, I'm asking for your help, financially and spiritually, against this dreaded disease.
I have had several battles with cancer in my life. When I was 9 years old, my mom died of pancreatic cancer at age 46. The hardest thing was losing her and not understanding where or why she had gone. My dad was unable to take care of me and I wound up living in a group home for young teens.
I left the group home at age 19 and worked my way through college to get my degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I later met and married my wonderful husband Roberto, and we moved to the San Francisco Bay area. We have a beautiful daughter who is now in college.
I am a determined person who has always felt that I could beat whatever came against me. I've beaten Lyme's Disease which hospitalized me for a month and led to months of treatments for Bell's palsy and atrial fibrillation. A few months later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and did everything I could to defeat it and make sure that it did not return, including major gynecological and breast removal surgery. I tested positive for the BRACA 1 gene which has created my present problems.
I trained to become an esthetician, became familiar with healing myself and became inspired to help others. I studied acupressure and volunteered to help women with cancer. I enrolled in community college, taking courses to enter a nursing program to help others and eventually help support my family.
In 2015, I was not feeling well. I received 6 months of chemotherapy, had two surgeries and took cancer pills to be preventative. Things looked promising, but after 6 more months the cancer came back full force and I had severe anemia, pain, fatigue and weakness. The scans revealed tumors all over my small and large intestines, outside my liver and in my lymph nodes.
With all of the doctor and hospital visits, the side effects of my treatments and pain and weakness, I recently had to stop working and give up my dream of being a nurse. This time it feels different and is a lot scarier. My husband's work hours as a waiter have been cut due to the slowdown in the restaurant industry, putting even more financial pressure on us. My daughter may have to leave school and this is so hard for me, as I always wanted her to have a better life than I did as a child. I also worry about her future, with our horrible family history of cancer, and I want her to have a mom.
Although I am covered by disability under Medicare, the financial burden of treatments, medications, rent, buying food and college expenses have forced me to ask for help from family, friends and the GoFundMe community of wonderful people helping others with difficult times in their lives.
Thank you for taking your time to read this. Anything you can give, your donations and your prayers, healthy thoughts and support, will be helpful and so very much appreciated. Please also share my GoFundMe with your network.
Cancer has done its damage, but with strong faith and love, I believe all things are possible. We are fighters and will never, ever, give up.
Thank you,
Sherri
Here is her story in her own words--
Of all the things I have done in my life, asking for help is that last thing I thought I'd be doing. I'm fiercely independent, but I've reached a point in my battle against stage 4 primary peritoneal cancer (which wraps around vital organs in the abdomen and peritoneum) where I can't fight it alone. So, I'm asking for your help, financially and spiritually, against this dreaded disease.
I have had several battles with cancer in my life. When I was 9 years old, my mom died of pancreatic cancer at age 46. The hardest thing was losing her and not understanding where or why she had gone. My dad was unable to take care of me and I wound up living in a group home for young teens.
I left the group home at age 19 and worked my way through college to get my degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology. I later met and married my wonderful husband Roberto, and we moved to the San Francisco Bay area. We have a beautiful daughter who is now in college.
I am a determined person who has always felt that I could beat whatever came against me. I've beaten Lyme's Disease which hospitalized me for a month and led to months of treatments for Bell's palsy and atrial fibrillation. A few months later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and did everything I could to defeat it and make sure that it did not return, including major gynecological and breast removal surgery. I tested positive for the BRACA 1 gene which has created my present problems.
I trained to become an esthetician, became familiar with healing myself and became inspired to help others. I studied acupressure and volunteered to help women with cancer. I enrolled in community college, taking courses to enter a nursing program to help others and eventually help support my family.
In 2015, I was not feeling well. I received 6 months of chemotherapy, had two surgeries and took cancer pills to be preventative. Things looked promising, but after 6 more months the cancer came back full force and I had severe anemia, pain, fatigue and weakness. The scans revealed tumors all over my small and large intestines, outside my liver and in my lymph nodes.
With all of the doctor and hospital visits, the side effects of my treatments and pain and weakness, I recently had to stop working and give up my dream of being a nurse. This time it feels different and is a lot scarier. My husband's work hours as a waiter have been cut due to the slowdown in the restaurant industry, putting even more financial pressure on us. My daughter may have to leave school and this is so hard for me, as I always wanted her to have a better life than I did as a child. I also worry about her future, with our horrible family history of cancer, and I want her to have a mom.
Although I am covered by disability under Medicare, the financial burden of treatments, medications, rent, buying food and college expenses have forced me to ask for help from family, friends and the GoFundMe community of wonderful people helping others with difficult times in their lives.
Thank you for taking your time to read this. Anything you can give, your donations and your prayers, healthy thoughts and support, will be helpful and so very much appreciated. Please also share my GoFundMe with your network.
Cancer has done its damage, but with strong faith and love, I believe all things are possible. We are fighters and will never, ever, give up.
Thank you,
Sherri
Organizer
Sherri Pala
Organizer
Larkspur, CA
