Remembering Mom
Donation protected
Everyone takes their health for granted unintentionally. People don't realize how lucky they are when they are healthy with perfect immune systems, including me. The only time I go to the doctors is once a year for a check up and the only time I get "sick" is for a few days when the seasons change. Starting the healthcare field 3 years ago really opened up my eyes. I started to realize how lucky I am to be healthy and only go to the doctors once a year, because every day I am surrounded by sick people. I am surrounded by both young and elderly patients who have spent their whole lives in and out of the hospital, with long lists of medications and frequent medical imaging exams that are keeping them alive, and sadly that is the only life they know. I see young children and those that are my age who can barely function. It almost makes me feel guilty in a way. I really started to appreciate my health because of this and I try not to complain too much when I'm having a bad day or have a simple stuffy nose, knowing that someone out there has it 100 times worse than me.
My caring personality hurts me sometimes. I care so much that I can't help but come home from work and wonder "what happened to that patient?", "I hope they helped them and I hope they went home to their family". In the past year, it is not only work that affects me now, it is my own personal life. What I see every day at work, what I think about every day when I come home, is now a reality to my own family. I am now on the other side of things and I am in the same shoes as the patients I help every day at work. This all leads me to my campaign story.
A year and a half ago my mom went in for a normal check up at her doctors. "Everything looks healthy" they said. A few months later, March of 2018, my mom felt some pain in her left pelvic area and went in for another check up. They did an ultrasound and told her they would call her with the report. I remember the day they called so clearly. I just got home from work and was in the kitchen unpacking my lunch bag. My mom walked into the house very quietly and proceeded to put dishes away without saying a word. If anyone knows my mother, they would say that is very unlike her to act like that. I asked what's wrong and all I remember is tears streaming down her face. "They found a mass on my ovary" she weeped. I almost broke down hearing the word "mass" because my grandfather, my mom's father, just passed away a year before from prostate cancer. I felt heaviness on my chest and like someone took my breath away. I felt a feeling that is unexplainable.
That day last March started the long journey that has unfortunately ended for us. Within a month my mom went through 2 major surgeries to remove her uterus and ovaries. A day later she had a complication from her first surgery and had lack of blood flow to her left leg. Her leg turned white and swelled up. No one was around at the moment so she yelled for help from her hospital bed. The nurses and doctors came running in and within minutes she was rushed into the OR again to have a pelvic bypass. The doctor told her if she waited any longer she could have lost her leg. I remember getting the phone call at work that she was going back into surgery and I don't even remember hesitating one second to pick up my keys and leave to go to the hospital. I was so scared.
My whole life my family and I were all healthy. No chronic illnesses besides my grandpa getting prostate cancer while I was in high school. I thought nothing would ever happen to us, we are invincible and we are going to live happily ever after until we are old and grey. I had to remove myself from that fairy tale story because life isn't like a fairy tale. It is cruel and mean. The first 2 months after my mom's surgeries were rough. She could barely do any normal daily activities by herself, including showering. Watching my mom in that state was the most upsetting and heartbreaking thing I ever had to go through. I had to help my mom like she helped me when I was a child. Our roles were reversed.
She healed from her surgery finally by mid summer. But it wasn't over yet, my mom had a confirmed endometrial cancer from the biopsy report and had to go through a round of chemotherapy, which brought us into the fall time. She did ok and didn't become too weak from it. The doctors were surprised and said she handled it well. The imaging scans showed we were headed in the right direction but everything wasn't cleared up yet. She then got radiation treatments every day for 6 weeks, which brought us into the holiday season and into the New Year. The radiation really hit her and she was so weak some days she could barely walk up the stairs. If I wasn't working or doing my MRI schooling, I was bringing my mom to her appointments. And thankfully my other family members could help take turns if I couldn't. I became an official caretaker of my mother at the age of 23, which mentally matured me greatly. My mom became different after her diagnosis and I became different. Every day we try to think positive and take one day at a time. We want to get through this, we want to beat this. We all are exhausted.
Within half a year, between the surgeries, appointments, procedures, and therapies our bills sky rocketed. My mom stopped working as soon as she had her surgery and my dad became the only income. It’s stressful to know that we are fighting a battle and the only way to keep battling is to have the finances for it. It’s not fair because even with insurance it becomes hard. The last thing we want to worry about at a time like this is money.
Her last round of treatment after radiation was a new drug that they told her she was a candidate for. We became hopeful but our world came spiraling down when she got her check up scans and the new drug that she was supposedly a candidate for was ineffective and we had to look into another option. Our hearts dropped once again and we felt like our journey was never going to end. On November 9, 2019 our journey sadly ended. My mom fought so long and hard for us. She couldn’t fight no more. I watched her fade away from me. She didn’t fail her wings were just ready, even though all of our hearts were not. If you have not read my story in the past or donated, anything will help with the funeral expenses. We love our mom, this is the hardest thing I ever had to go through and the worst time of my life
My caring personality hurts me sometimes. I care so much that I can't help but come home from work and wonder "what happened to that patient?", "I hope they helped them and I hope they went home to their family". In the past year, it is not only work that affects me now, it is my own personal life. What I see every day at work, what I think about every day when I come home, is now a reality to my own family. I am now on the other side of things and I am in the same shoes as the patients I help every day at work. This all leads me to my campaign story.
A year and a half ago my mom went in for a normal check up at her doctors. "Everything looks healthy" they said. A few months later, March of 2018, my mom felt some pain in her left pelvic area and went in for another check up. They did an ultrasound and told her they would call her with the report. I remember the day they called so clearly. I just got home from work and was in the kitchen unpacking my lunch bag. My mom walked into the house very quietly and proceeded to put dishes away without saying a word. If anyone knows my mother, they would say that is very unlike her to act like that. I asked what's wrong and all I remember is tears streaming down her face. "They found a mass on my ovary" she weeped. I almost broke down hearing the word "mass" because my grandfather, my mom's father, just passed away a year before from prostate cancer. I felt heaviness on my chest and like someone took my breath away. I felt a feeling that is unexplainable.
That day last March started the long journey that has unfortunately ended for us. Within a month my mom went through 2 major surgeries to remove her uterus and ovaries. A day later she had a complication from her first surgery and had lack of blood flow to her left leg. Her leg turned white and swelled up. No one was around at the moment so she yelled for help from her hospital bed. The nurses and doctors came running in and within minutes she was rushed into the OR again to have a pelvic bypass. The doctor told her if she waited any longer she could have lost her leg. I remember getting the phone call at work that she was going back into surgery and I don't even remember hesitating one second to pick up my keys and leave to go to the hospital. I was so scared.
My whole life my family and I were all healthy. No chronic illnesses besides my grandpa getting prostate cancer while I was in high school. I thought nothing would ever happen to us, we are invincible and we are going to live happily ever after until we are old and grey. I had to remove myself from that fairy tale story because life isn't like a fairy tale. It is cruel and mean. The first 2 months after my mom's surgeries were rough. She could barely do any normal daily activities by herself, including showering. Watching my mom in that state was the most upsetting and heartbreaking thing I ever had to go through. I had to help my mom like she helped me when I was a child. Our roles were reversed.
She healed from her surgery finally by mid summer. But it wasn't over yet, my mom had a confirmed endometrial cancer from the biopsy report and had to go through a round of chemotherapy, which brought us into the fall time. She did ok and didn't become too weak from it. The doctors were surprised and said she handled it well. The imaging scans showed we were headed in the right direction but everything wasn't cleared up yet. She then got radiation treatments every day for 6 weeks, which brought us into the holiday season and into the New Year. The radiation really hit her and she was so weak some days she could barely walk up the stairs. If I wasn't working or doing my MRI schooling, I was bringing my mom to her appointments. And thankfully my other family members could help take turns if I couldn't. I became an official caretaker of my mother at the age of 23, which mentally matured me greatly. My mom became different after her diagnosis and I became different. Every day we try to think positive and take one day at a time. We want to get through this, we want to beat this. We all are exhausted.
Within half a year, between the surgeries, appointments, procedures, and therapies our bills sky rocketed. My mom stopped working as soon as she had her surgery and my dad became the only income. It’s stressful to know that we are fighting a battle and the only way to keep battling is to have the finances for it. It’s not fair because even with insurance it becomes hard. The last thing we want to worry about at a time like this is money.
Her last round of treatment after radiation was a new drug that they told her she was a candidate for. We became hopeful but our world came spiraling down when she got her check up scans and the new drug that she was supposedly a candidate for was ineffective and we had to look into another option. Our hearts dropped once again and we felt like our journey was never going to end. On November 9, 2019 our journey sadly ended. My mom fought so long and hard for us. She couldn’t fight no more. I watched her fade away from me. She didn’t fail her wings were just ready, even though all of our hearts were not. If you have not read my story in the past or donated, anything will help with the funeral expenses. We love our mom, this is the hardest thing I ever had to go through and the worst time of my life
Organizer
Lauren Varriale
Organizer
Hudson, NY
