Help Karen's Path of Recovery

Whoever said winning isn't everything obviously never had cancer. This page has been started in hopes of helping a woman who has been dealing with a cancer diagnosis since 2005. This woman is the strongest woman I know, my mother. In 2004, we threw my dad a surprise 50th birthday party. Unfortunately, this was not the only surprise of that day, as my mom fractured her right pelvis. A doctor in Philadelphia, PA found what he said was a benign tumor in her right pelvic bone and surgically removed it. After a year of excruciating pain, my mom was searching for answers and saw doctor after doctor. She sought answers from doctors in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and Baltimore. The "best of the best" doctors advised her that she was recovering and nothing was wrong. Finally, after finding an amazing cancer clinic in Houston, TX, M.D Anderson Cancer Clinic discovered half of a malignant tumor remaining in her right pelvis. My mother was diagnosed with a hemangioendothelioma which in other words is a vascular and rare bone tumor that makes up less than 1% of all cancer types.
After 5 life-threatening surgeries and several infections, my mother went in to remission. On Christmas Eve 2015, we found out her tumor metastisized to the bottom of her spine. After a six month check up everything was looking fine since the tumor did not grow. Fast forward to August 2015, her tumor had grown a substantial amount, especially for this rare and slow growing cancer. The doctors in MD Anderson have a plan to use chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the tumor in hopes of later surgically removing it. The tumor is wrapped around her spinal cord and the nerve endings that control her bowel and urinary functions. The tumor will need to be shrunk before it is surgically removed so that my mom doesn't lose these abilities. My mother and I planned to fly out to M.D Anderson January 24th-28th for follow up testing and hopefully to start her chemotherapy and radiation.
Due to one parent in our household being able to work, ten years of medical bills, airfare and hotel costs, money for my family is tight at this time. After flying to Houston countless times along with hotel stays, co-pays, and monthly medication costs of $800, my family has spent over $70,000. With all of this being said my father, older sister Ashley, and even my little 3-year-old nephew, CJ, and I are asking family, friends, and peers for some help. My mother, as I am sure MANY people who know her and can agree, is the strongest, most selfless, and giving woman I know. She has spent many years volunteering, working, mothering, and so much more to friends, family, and total strangers. If any one deserves to continue living and giving to this world, it is my mother. My family and I are asking for any donation; every penny counts to help pay for airfare, hotel, and the many medical bills for her up coming treatment. We all appreciate any one willing to reach out a helping hand to my role model and many people's hero. We would like to thank you in advance from the bottom of our heart!