Debbie's Battle With Cancer

Debbie Santos...she is one of 5. This picture is of her 2nd chemotherapy day...or it was supposed to be before they had to stop and give her more radiation. Debbie or as some call her Debbie Doo has been married to her husband Fernando for 28 years, is the mother of 5 beautiful children, 2 of them with disabilities and 3 grandchildren. She is an amazing Certified Nursing Assistant and has cared for more people than I can ever express, a true light born to help others. Debbie was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, a scary story that we never thought could happen. It all started with a bump on her forehead and some headaches, which by the hand of God ultimately saved her life. Without that bump she would have never known how far the cancer had spread and would not have been able to fight it with treatment. Her doctors performed the biopsy on her skull, ran full body scans and determined that the cancer was also in her left chest lymph nodes and her left lung. She endured 10 unbearable treatments of radiation to her skull which left her with burn marks and missing patches of hair. The day after she completed radiation she had surgery for a port to be put in her chest then the very next day, she started chemotherapy. No breaks, no time for her immune system to recover, no time to think. As strong willed as she is, her body just couldn't take all of this at once, she got pneumonia and was in and out of the hospital for the next few weeks. Her breathing is restricted and she has a hard time eating, feeling the food getting caught in her chest bone. Her doctor said the lymph node has grown and decided to stop the chemotherapy and start radiation back up but this time directly to her chest... for another 10 painful treatments. Again with no breaks she will resume the chemotherapy within a day. No matter how much pain she is in, no matter what the treatment they give her, she never stops worrying about her family and what they need to make it through. Debbie has always been a go getter, working 2 jobs for most of her life while caring for both her patients and her children, not ever putting herself first or faltering while she worked through her own trials and tribulations. She has always been the one that her patients counted on, her family leaned on and never would ask for that in return.., a true inspiration to me. Now it is Debbie who needs the help, it is our time to step forward and be the ones there for her. Her beautiful heartfelt coworkers donated some of their personal time off to Debbie and her Long Term "23 weeks" Disability will only carry on for a minute... but what happens then? Debbie contunes to stress and worry about how she will pay her insurance, the yearly deductibles and the continous co pays. She worries as her 10 year olds school year approaches but she will not be able to afford his cloths and necessary school supplies. She worries that she will not be able to make her next mortgage payment, a mortgage that only has 2 more years left before they own it. She worries about how she will pay her property taxes or how to pay for oil in the winter or pellets to keep her house warm. As a close family and with amazing close friends we all pitch in with the kids, taking her to appointments, treatments, holding her hand, crying with her with, praying that our sisters pain would just stop...not just physically but mentally too. With her husband working double even triple time to make ends meet, there is just no way to keep up with the astronomical bills that continue to grow by the month. Every year people donate to cancer research and foundations but never get the chance to see the person they help. This is Debbie's story and we pray that by you reading her story each one of you may be able to donate and see who you are helping. It is not only the donation that counts, it is also a prayer we ask of you. Thank you all deeply from our hearts, God bless you all.