Irene Guevara ❤️

My mom was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) in May of this year, just 4 short months ago, at age 72. GBM is an aggressive form of brain cancer that grows extremely rapidly and has no cure. We are asking for donations during this very difficult time, to help lay my mom Irene to rest in the coming weeks as Hospice believes she is in her final days. The symptoms began showing when she moved in with me in January of 2019. I first noticed some memory loss, some confusion, and then the headaches started. We made her first Dr. appointment to try to find the cause of her symptoms, and since then have spiraled into a crazy journey that I'll never forget. After her first CT scan, the doctors thought my mom had had a stroke, possibly having caused vascular dimentia. This was a scary diagnosis to hear. More tests. More scans. More specialists and Dr. appointments. Then just weeks later, my world was turned upside down. It was two days til Easter and I got a call from my moms Dr. He was calling to tell me they had received my moms MRI results. They had discovered a large mass on my moms brain. The tone of his voice was concerning. He recommended we get another MRI, this time with contrast, STAT. We scheduled it for the following week. He ended the phone call by urging me that if my mom had any severe headaches or vomiting, to take her to the emergency room immediately. Fast forward to the day after Easter, I headed home after work to take my mom for a ride to the store. At this point doctors were strongly recommending that my mom not drive, at least until we figured out what was going on with her brain. Her memory loss was gradually increasing, and I was getting desperate for answers. Everything up until what happened next was up in the air, waiting on another doctor, waiting on another test. I arrived home and picked up my mom and we started our drive to the store. No sooner than we got into the main road she started complaining of a massive headache, and then told me "Can you believe I threw up 3 times today?!" My stomach turned. I said "Mom are you serious? We have to get you to the hospital". I was angry at myself for having to work, and for having left her home alone at all that day, given her progressing symptoms. We turned the car around and headed for Kaiser Emergency room in Moreno Valley. After spending 10 hours in the waiting room, getting am EKG done, they called her in for an MRI, with contrast. I called my wife to meet us there. My mom was put in a hospital bed as we sat in some chairs bedside, anxiously awaiting the results of her scan. It's now 1 o'clock in the morning and the doctor finally comes in, results in hand. My heart instantly sank when I saw her face. I knew it wasn't good news. She confirmed that there wasn't only one mass on my mom's brain, but there were four. We all looked at each other stunned by what we had just heard, trying to process what we just heard. The doctor handed me the paperwork which was full of terms I didnt understand and said they would be transporting my mom to Kaiser Fontana via ambulance. We all fell silent with our own thoughts and when my mom got up to use the hallway bathroom. I maintained my composure and walked her through the curtains and as soon she was out of my site I turned around and fell into my wife's chest and cried. I feared how this could mean my mom would be taken from me at age 31, before I had the chance to give her grandkids, before I had time to really enjoy an adult relationship with her, before we had time to do all the things we wanted to do that we just pushed off for a future date. I feared all these future dates might not come. I didnt know back then that that fear would come true, or how little time we truly had left. She was transported to Kaiser, and had her biopsy surgery just days later. In those days, I scrambled to prepare for the worst case scenario. Power of attorney, advanced directive, digging into my mom finances. I found out that my moms life insurance policy had lapsed and could not be reinstated. My mom had paid on her policy my whole life and now it wasnt going to be there when we needed it. They could only offer us an emergency policy for an extravagant amount of money per month, which would only pay out if my mom lived longer than 2 years. After she healed from her surgery, she immediately started chemotherapy and radiation. The doctors warned us that this treatment would only prolong the inevitable and it was simply to give us a little more time. They estimated 6 months. She fought through the treatment, the new very difficult symptoms, all the medication, the frustrations and emotions, with so much grace and courage. As her caretaker I couldnt have been more tired and worn down. As her daughter, I couldn't have been more proud. My mom could no longer be left home alone. Our bills were piling up and I had used up all my sick time and vacation hours. I withdrew my 401K. I was at my wits end in every aspect of my life. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, but I had to return to work. It's now September 2019 and my mom has been on Hospice for 3 weeks. They are estimating that she will pass any day now. I am completely heart broken. I never thought my family and I would be in this position. But we need help, and a lot of it. Absolutely any little bit counts, and we would be eternally grateful for every cent. Please donate and share, to help in laying my mom to rest with love, dignity, and respect. Thank you to all, Irene's youngest daughter Tawny Guevara-Wilson