My Mommy’s Cancer Journey

Thank you for taking the time to read this page. I want to share my mommy’s story with you. In November of 2021, my mommy started experiencing symptoms of blood clotting. (Leg swelling) She didn’t go to the doctor at first because she’s had problems with her legs swelling before . Time passed and she finally went to the ER because she was having difficulty breathing and legs were swollen. The hospital tried to send her home but she refused until they ran tests on her, and on her birthday in December, she was hospitalized for blood clots. The doctors found several in both legs and in her lungs.

She was sent home on blood thinners. This is when things began to change for my mom. She began her menstrual cycle and to her surprise she bled excessively. She knew something was not right! She went back to her doctor and he referred her to a gynecologist. The doctor ordered an ultrasound and CT scan and found a tumor the size of a large grapefruit. A special blood test was ordered and when they called my mommy in, they told her that the blood work came in high for possible ovarian cancer but the doctor could not confirm until she saw an oncologist. After seeing the oncologist and many other specialist, they found out that my mom also had a blood clot in one of her heart chambers and she was hospitalized again. Her oncologist wanted to remove the tumor as soon as possible but the blood clot was a major concern and the cardiologist had to make a plan. They decided the best thing they could do was leave the blood clot alone and hope it would dissolve in time. The other option they gave my mommy was to have open heart surgery, but her doctors said that was too risky. The cardiologist highly recommended that my mommy get a procedure done where they would attach a filter to one of her major veins. They had to do this in case the blood clot traveled she would not get a stroke or heart attack. There were so many tests and procedures my mommy had to go through in order to be approved for her surgery. Once her surgery was done in February 2022 , they confirmed my mommy had Ovarian Cancer and she would need 6 rounds of chemotherapy. It has been a long journey, but God has been so good to us still. So many people have helped love and care for my mommy. My brother and I are so grateful. But we wanted to help too and start a go fund me account for her. Even though my mommy has insurance she has been left with some medical bills and because she is still doing chemo treatments, she isn’t working full-time. My mommy usually takes a week off for work each time when she does chemotherapy but this last round she almost had to take two weeks off. She has 2 more treatments left and her doctor told her they would be harder than the rest of them. As many of you know, my mom is a single mom and this has been an unexpected hardship on us financially.

Please consider helping in any way you can. We are excited because she is so close to the end. They say my mommy is a Miracle and we are believing she will be Cancer Free, in Jesus name!

Thank you again for reading my mommy’s story and for your prayers. God bless you-

Amerie and Sean Rivera