Help Laurie Beat Cancer!

Hi everyone! 

I have created this page in hopes of raising money for my mom in order to pay some expenses while she is undergoing cancer treatments. In case you don't know my mom, here is a little information about her recent past:

My mom was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in November 2010. She has undergone five surgeries since then--one of which lasted over eleven hours--and three courses of chemotherapy, which she is still receiving now and will continue to receive for the foreseeable future. She has spent the better part of the last fourteen months in the hospital. She has been to hell and back, but her perseverance has never wavered. She is still fighting with unparalleled spirit and determination. My mom doesn't let anything slow her down, especially cancer. 

My mom has taught me that there is no such thing as giving up. I have never been so amazed and inspired as when I watch her pick herself up and keep going, no matter how much it hurts. She is patient, supportive, intelligent, and the epitome of selfless. If you've spent some time with her, you know she is also quite the entertainer--you've probably seen her with underwear on her head, straws up her nose, or maybe sitting down with strangers at a restaurant and asking for a bite of their food--her favorite thing to do is put a smile on someone's face. 

My mom is also an Emergency Physician. She loves her job and her patients adore her. She is an impossibly good-hearted, empathetic person whose love for people and animals is overwhelming--she would go to the ends of the earth for the people in her life.

She is absolutely the best person I have ever known, a friend to everyone, and the pride I feel in being her daughter is indescribable. My mom has spent her whole life taking care of other people, and now I am asking you to help me take care of her.  

As anyone who's ever dealt with a chronic illness knows, the cost of treatments is astronomical. Bills are piling up and becoming impossible to pay, we are in danger of losing our health insurance, and we will have to move out of house in the next few months. If I could raise even a little bit of money for my mom, it would take away so much of her fear and let her concentrate on the real task at hand without constantly being distracted by financial worries.