Brandi’s Light, Beautiful Soul! A Helping Hand to our Plight

This is Brandi Gomes. Born in Georgia but lives in Massachusetts. She is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a caretaker, a supporter, a lover, a warrior, a cancer survivor (ovarian), a soldier, an artist, but most importantly, she has always been a gift.

What Ailes her:

-Diagnosed with fast spreading Melanoma in 2020.

- disabled since June 18th, 2012 from a work accident, diagnoses with RSD-CRPS (Chronic Nerve Damage)

- Cancer Mass discovered on her coccyx in 2024

-Type 2 Chronic Kidney Disease

Where the funds are going:

-Handicap Accessibility for home

-Medical Bills

-Plumbing

-Income Stability

Brandi's Story

My name is Derek. I am Brandi’s husband of 5 years but have been with her for a very happy 12 years. This is her story through our shared experiences.

I met Brandi at a Best Buy back in 2011. She journeyed all the way from Atlanta, Georgia to Massachusetts working for DirectTV. We worked together for a few months, and I got to know her from afar. It wasn’t until my brothers and I, who worked there with her, heard through the grapevine that the apartment she had put a down payment on had water issues which the landlord wasn’t going to be able to fix. Long story short, Brandi was out of a home. NOT ON MY WATCH! That same day, my family offered her my bed while I was away at college. From that day on, Brandi was family. As months went on, I came home from college and began to get to know Brandi more. That’s when I got bold enough to ask her to be mine. We accomplished a lot for our first year. Got Bree’na (Brandi's 1st child) up from GA to MA, started my journey in content creation, Brandi started painting and drawing again, and we were all really starting to build what would be our future family. That is until June of the same year rolled around.

In 2012, Brandi was working a late-night shift at Best Buy and was plugging in an open box DVD player for a customer so that he could see that it worked. My wife, being my wife, went beyond her station and did just that. Only thing is, there was a hole behind the televisions, and she stepped right into it, dropping 2ft down. Brandi broke the top metatarsals on her foot, which pinched the nerves in her foot. She developed RSD-CRPS from this injury. Which is a long acronym, so I’ll try to simplify it the way the doctors did for us. RSD-CRPS is a condition where the nervous system becomes confused, thinking that good nerves are bad. The point of origin of this injury was her foot, which means that’s where the pain starts, and as time has gone on, the pain has slowly traveled up her leg. The doc said her pain level would be above someone with phantom limb pain. She was now permanently disabled. From this point on, Brandi could not move without assistance. Her weapon of choice: crutches. For the next 2 years, Brandi would have over 14 procedures, from lumbar blocks to spinal surgeries. None of which gave her relief from the chronic pain. Having to watch her endure this undefined pain was difficult. No one wants to watch their loved ones suffer. Even though her suffering was great, it never changed her mental progress for normalcy.

In 2015, Brandi became pregnant with our second child, Lilith, and then 2 years later, we were blessed by our third, Zahara. Brandi was told she would not be able to deliver these babies naturally because of the spinal work/her condition, but she didn’t let that stop her and delivered them both naturally, even being very high risk. As time went on, Brandi tried going back to college, back to work, and back to art. Unfortunately, her condition made it difficult to pursue these things because of either the pain or her bad nerves. This really took a toll on my wife’s mental and emotional self. She just didn’t want to be a burden and wanted to contribute, but as her loving husband, I would reassure her that she was enough for all of us.

Covid came into the picture in 2020, but so did some other bad news. My wife found out 3 months into the pandemic that she has Melanoma. Skin Cancer. She has an aggressive type that spreads rapidly. Since 2020, my wife has had over 10+ biopsies done to remove cancerous moles. She began to go blind because of the cancer spreading to her eye, which meant she had to have 10 injections in her eyes once every other month, and slew of other test. In August 2024, she was checked into the hospital for 12 days because she lost control of her legs and kidneys at home.

During her 12-day stay at the hospital, they discovered that she has a golf ball-sized mass growing in her coccyx. After her stay, she had to abandon the crutches for a walker and a wheelchair. She could no longer walk without assistance. We are now in the motion to get more answers since her last surgery on September 16th, which was to remove a machine from her spine that she had installed 9 years ago. We have an MRI coming that will give us answers so that we might be able to prepare for the future.

I have realized that as a father, husband, and now full-time caretaker, I can only do so much. I have lost more than 4 jobs since Covid just trying to balance being super dad and helping my wife. This has been the worst we have been. With the house needing updates for handicap access, proper plumbing, and overall stability… to the detriment of our pride, we need help.