As you may know, our mom was diagnosed with cancer last year, and in February, we found that it had spread to her lungs. Brooke and I have chosen to ask for support as she continues to go through this challenging journey. This GoFundMe is currently set to private so that we can surprise Mom and Dad with it. Our goal is to help ease some of the financial burden on our parents during this incredibly hard time.

On April 24, 2024, our mom went in for day surgery to have her thumbnail removed, and the doctor did a biopsy. A few days later, she got the call that the biopsy came back as melanoma. Over the next few months, Mom and Dad took several trips to Boston for testing, second opinions, and to meet what would become Mom’s team of doctors. During this time, the doctors confirmed that the cancer was isolated to Mom’s thumb, and we started talking about treatment and surgery options.

After about a week of going through all the options, Mom chose to have surgery on her thumb, removing any tissue around the area, and on July 2, 2024, she went in for her first surgery.

On July 10, 2024, we found out that the surgery did not fully remove the cancer, and she would need amputation of her thumb. On July 18, 2024, Mom went in and had her left thumb fully amputated. The margins came back clear, and doctors believed she was “surgically cured.”

After this surgery, Mom’s next scans in August and November showed no signs of cancer! She went into the following scan expecting the same result.

Unfortunately, on December 10, 2024, Mom’s scans showed small spots on her lungs, which meant more scans and meetings with more doctors. They decided to wait 2 months and repeated the scans on February 10th.

February 14, 2025: “They said if it gets worse or I do nothing that I have about 6 months” - probably the most earth-shattering words we’ve ever heard. This was the day that Mom’s doctors confirmed that she had metastasized melanoma on her lungs.

After many more conversations, careful consideration, weighing risks vs. benefits, and building a solid support system, she chose to take an integrative route. Mom’s doctors reluctantly agreed to support doing it her way and scheduled to redo her scans in April.

On April 9, 2025, we got the follow-up results. Although it’s not the news we were hoping for, there was some relief that the cancer had not spread further. The nodules did grow in size but were still considered to be small, which the doctors were pleasantly surprised by. The doctor believed that what she is doing is definitely doing something.

Currently, Mom has weekly appointments to receive Vitamin C infusions and hyperbaric chamber treatment. She’s taking an extensive amount of pills a day between medications and supplements, and unfortunately, insurance doesn’t cover any of this.

She’s a warrior; she refuses to let this be her story, and she won’t let cancer define her. Although she’s remained positive and handled every step of this journey with grace, the financial stress this has caused is a heavy weight to carry.

My family and I can’t say thank you enough to everyone who’s checked in, sent thoughts and prayers, helped us remain positive, sent good vibes, and all those that have been a part of this extremely emotional rollercoaster alongside us this far. It takes a village, and ours has shown up every single day.

Thank you for considering this heartfelt gesture, and please continue to keep Mom in your thoughts & prayers

With love,

Brooke & Nikki