My Moms Battle with Brain Cancer

Hi everyone, as many of you already know, my mother (Shannon Reel-Deckard) was diagnosed with glioblastoma (brain cancer) in June of 2019. For those of you who don’t know, here is her story: She had a craniotomy a couple days after she was diagnosed and they were able to remove the majority of the tumor. After the surgery she had a 2 month stay at a rehabilitation hospital because the surgery caused extreme left sided weakness and some neurological deficits. When she came home from the rehab she was able to walk again and for the most part, things appeared to be getting much better. She had 36 rounds of radiation and months of chemotherapy. Finally, we got the news we were praying for, she was in remission. Then in August of 2020, we found out that the cancer returned in a new place in her brain. Before we realized the cancer had returned, she had numbness in two fingers on her right hand, the doctor thought that she had a pulled muscle. A week later the numbness had traveled to the majority of her right side. They did an MRI and found a tumor in her left thalamus. Another week passed and my mom was in a wheelchair. The week after that, she couldn’t hear from her right ear and she couldn’t talk without stuttering. She couldn’t have another surgery because this tumor is too deep in the brain. They did 5 rounds of pinpointed radiation (Radiosurgery) and things seemed to slowly improve. Her hearing came back, her speech improved. she was even able to take a few steps with a walker. Since things appeared to be improving, she went back to the rehab hospital for 2.5 weeks to try to regain some strength. Unfortunately, while in the rehab she began declining physically again. She ended up coming home worse than when she went in. Her doctors believe the tumor is progressing and unfortunately, there isn’t anything else they can do. She was placed on in-home hospice, which began the day she came home from rehab. Since she’s been home she has continued to decline, the stuttering began happening again and now she can hardly form words. She hardly eats anymore and spends most of the time sleeping. In the last year and a half of fighting, my mom has had 3 surgeries, 3 grand mal seizures, an infection in her skull flap, and a blood clot. Despite all of these things, she maintained a positive, upbeat attitude and showed indescribable courage. I am asking for donations to offset the financial toll this disease has taken on our family and to raise money for final expenses when the time comes. Anything will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.