Please help my mom fight for life- stage4 MBC

(First 5k event together - 2011)

Throughout my childhood, my mom, Eva, was always there to love and support me. She encouraged me to try new activities and helped find programs or clubs she knew I would enjoy. Because of her, I found a love for aquatic sports such as swimming and water polo, music and even my education. My mom spent years driving back and forth from our home to my practices and events, never letting me down. She always helped me with my academics, making sure I understood materials and was receiving good grades on my assignments. I followed in her footsteps and decided I would attend Washington State University upon completing high school. 

(Good news!! - fall 2015) 

When I was leaving for college in August of 2016, my world flipped upside down. 

My wonderful mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.

Within weeks, she was upgraded to stage 4 and admitted to the hospital with severe pain. That’s when the doctors discovered the cancer had already spread to her spine, brain, and bones throughout her whole body. Immediately, she started receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments. During this time, she also had countless scans and MRIs which kept finding more tumors.

After about 3 months of these treatments, she was still in constant pain and was hospitalized for over 2 months. She was not able to walk or function normally. Once she was released, she went into a life care center for 6 weeks to try and re-learn basic functions like walking and get stable, constant care that she required. My family celebrated Christmas in her life care facility that year, thinking it would be her last, still hoping and praying she would be able to come home soon. She was released mid-February of 2017.

(Christmas 2016 @ life care facility)

My mom spent the rest of 2017 doing constant chemotherapy and various trial treatments to try and stop or at least slow the progression of the cancer. She was taking hundreds of pills a month, fighting fatigue, nausea, and constant pain. She put all her effort and motivation she had just to try and feel "normal" so she could participate in daily activities with our family, but things were far from normal. Throughout the year, she was in and out of the hospital and when she wasn’t admitted, my dad was taking her to 3-4 doctor’s appointments per week. This put tremendous stress on my dad, but he quickly transitioned to become her caregiver while still working a full-time job and being a great father to me and my younger brother.

In January of 2018, my mom started a “research trial” for a combination of chemo drugs to specifically target her cancer type. This trial failed for many families, but our family was lucky. She was the only patient who started the trial and is still part of it. We are 13 months into the trial, and it seems to be slowing the progression of her cancer. We feel extremely grateful for every extra day we get with her, but we are still living our daily lives with the constant reminder in the back of our head that you never know what tomorrow may bring.

Between the medication and the cancer in her body, there are many unexplained symptoms and pains that are at times unbearable for her. Walking and thinking clearly are a struggle most of the time. We have no idea how much time mom has left to live, her goal is to see me graduate from college and see my brother graduate from high school (2 more years). 

(Visiting me @ WSU for  moms weekend - April 2018)

I have set up this gofundme in hopes I can help my mom and dad with their medical and healthcare bills that have accumulated since her diagnosis. After almost 29 months of cancer care, they have many bills that need to be paid, which is a lot of additional stress for my dad, making each day hard to enjoy. My dad works full time but cannot keep up with the medical cost. It would be my dream come true if mom and dad could spend special time together making happy memories and enjoying what little time they have left together, instead of worrying about their finances.

Any and every little bit will help my family tremendously.  If anyone can help with any amount, we would be so grateful. Thank you.