A Story of Love and Life - Gizella
Spende geschützt
April 23, 2014 was one of the toughest days of our lives. The day our mom was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer, aka the silent killer. Her oncologist gave her 2-3 months to live, however she was determined to prove them wrong. After 6 months of extremely painful and intensive treatment she went into remission! Though she was technically in “remission”, she continued with standard of care chemo treatments to ensure that the cancer would not regenerate. Two months later we hit a speedbump and our mom underwent an invasive bile duct bypass surgery. It took months to recover from and her weekly chemo treatments were put on hold. Post recovery we were heartbroken to find out the cancer had come back, mutated and stronger than ever. This news only motivated our mom to fight harder. Weeks later a CT scan revealed that her tumor had begun to shrink again. The oncologists and nurses at Sarah Cannon Research were astounded by her unwavering strength and ability to bounce back from practically any set back (there were LOTS!). So astounded that they gave her the nickname “The Phoenix”.
About a month later we were blindsided..Our mother was rushed to the ICU when we thought she had a stroke. It wasn’t a stroke. The doctors told us her liver was failing and there was nothing they could do to help. They were right... On November 12th @ 5:56pm, our mother, best friend, and mentor took her last breath in our arms. It was instantly clear that the rest of our family’s lives would drastically change forever. Her passing was a painful and shocking experience for us, especially with the recent positive news we had received. In our eyes, she didn’t lose her battle with cancer. In the past 2 years she touched so many lives with her story. She inspired people to never lose hope. She inspired people to see the good in every situation. She beat cancer because she never let it take any of those things away from her.
After nearly two years of intensive chemo treatments, countless hospital stays, blood transfusions, and surgeries, the medical bills piled up. This Christmas we would like to give our father a donation to help with all of these bills. Our dad lost his wife and best friend of 35 years and gained a mess of medical bills. The only wish we have this Christmas is for him to be happy again. Any and all donations are appreciated and help more than you know.
Pancreatic Cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer related deaths and expected to be the 2nd leading cause by 2020.. It’s also one of the least funded cancer research programs. We always promised mom we would help raise awareness for Pancreatic Cancer. Therefore, in her honor and in the spirit of giving, we will be donating 15% of these donations to The Nikki Mitchell Foundation. Our mother held this foundation very close to her heart. They are a Nashville, TN based organization dedicated to preventing, detecting, and curing Pancreatic Cancer. Thank you all so much for your support and love throughout this experience. We know our mother is resting peacefully and watching over us. God bless.
About a month later we were blindsided..Our mother was rushed to the ICU when we thought she had a stroke. It wasn’t a stroke. The doctors told us her liver was failing and there was nothing they could do to help. They were right... On November 12th @ 5:56pm, our mother, best friend, and mentor took her last breath in our arms. It was instantly clear that the rest of our family’s lives would drastically change forever. Her passing was a painful and shocking experience for us, especially with the recent positive news we had received. In our eyes, she didn’t lose her battle with cancer. In the past 2 years she touched so many lives with her story. She inspired people to never lose hope. She inspired people to see the good in every situation. She beat cancer because she never let it take any of those things away from her.
After nearly two years of intensive chemo treatments, countless hospital stays, blood transfusions, and surgeries, the medical bills piled up. This Christmas we would like to give our father a donation to help with all of these bills. Our dad lost his wife and best friend of 35 years and gained a mess of medical bills. The only wish we have this Christmas is for him to be happy again. Any and all donations are appreciated and help more than you know.
Pancreatic Cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer related deaths and expected to be the 2nd leading cause by 2020.. It’s also one of the least funded cancer research programs. We always promised mom we would help raise awareness for Pancreatic Cancer. Therefore, in her honor and in the spirit of giving, we will be donating 15% of these donations to The Nikki Mitchell Foundation. Our mother held this foundation very close to her heart. They are a Nashville, TN based organization dedicated to preventing, detecting, and curing Pancreatic Cancer. Thank you all so much for your support and love throughout this experience. We know our mother is resting peacefully and watching over us. God bless.
Organisator
Chris Ricci
Organisator
Nashville, TN