UPDATE: 8/2/2023

It has been close to six months since I started Charisse’s Hands of Love. First, I want to express our dearest gratitude for all the love tokens that my parents have received since February, it has truly been a blessing.

Since my mom’s cancer has metastasis to her lungs in February, she was able to complete 10 weeks of her new chemo treatment plan. At the end of June, she completed scans to check the status of how her body was responding to treatment. Upon her results, treatments were not effective as the mass in her lungs got worse and the cancer metastasis once again to her bones onto her vertebrae bodies and right upper ribs. Feeling defeated is an understatement, but our faith remains strong.

Recently, mom had a tough couple of weeks to where the cancer has fully controlled her body. As a family, we found it best to let Mom be at peace as she fought a good fight. Today, 8/2/2023, Mom is fully cured - she rang the heavenly bell!

Some might think cancer may have won, but to us, we feel our mom kicked cancer’s ass! Cancer is a very tough disease to deal with mentally, emotionally, and physically. It tries to strip you of everything that makes you who you are. It took our mom’s hair, her appetite, her physical strength, and now her life but she always remained strong with her faith and love through it all. As our grandpa (our mother’s father) wrote once, LOVE is our greatest immaterial quality that we possess.

If you know my parents, they are high school sweethearts and have been married for 35 years. This is so hard on my siblings and me but especially, hard on our father. His love for my mother is one of a kind. As a caretaker, he fought hard too and deserves to be able to grieve in peace as well. Many have asked how they could help during this time. The biggest help anyone can offer our family is granting our father the time to grieve the love of his life without worrying about day-to-day life responsibilities.

LOVE conquers ALL,

The Lessord Family

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In life, we never expect the unexpected until it happens. When the unexpected happens, we tend to question why, why me, why us, and even our faith.

The unexpected happened to my family in June 2022. My mother, Charisse, the matriarch of my immediate family was diagnosed with Rectal Cancer. To say as a family, we were shocked by this news is an understatement. And of course, we had our questions of why?

In addition to being a mother, my mom is a daughter, sister, wife, aunt, cousin, niece, friend, colleague, and a strong leader. My mom always showed my siblings and I to lead by example. Mom leads by example through her dedication to being a hard worker at her job and her dedication to loving and providing for her family.

Her love to care for animals has run through her veins since she was a young girl. She has been living her dream of being a Veterinary Technician for more than 20 years. To show her strength and the love of her career, my mother has continued to work her full-time shift through 10 weeks of chemotherapy treatments and 6 weeks of radiation therapy. At times when it was getting hard on her, she continued to push her limits to not let this disease affect who she is or stop her from living her life. After all, we only have one life to live so why not make the most of it even through the tough times!

Unfortunately, the past month has prevented my mom from being able to work due to additional concerns within her lungs. If you know my mother, her staying home and not being able to do much is not like her. She is a go-getter and accepting to “take a break” is very hard for her to accept.

On February 2nd, 2023, another unexpected has came upon my family. Mom had to be in hospital care for pneumonia symptoms. However, upon doing a CT scan, they found concerning areas in her lungs and lymph nodes to which she had to go through a biopsy. With that biopsy, they found cancer cells and confirmed that her Rectal Cancer has spread. To know prior that treatments were going exceptionally well and to hear this kind of news, was like a kick to the stomach. Again, we questioned why.

We tend to forget that even if we don’t understand the why at that moment, there is a purpose for everything that happens in our journey in life. To comfort us during tough times, focus on the positives and have faith, hope, and love.

Positive note, mom has brought her family and friends closer to her like never before and we continue to provide as a great support system to her. We grew more in our faith and to appreciate a little more because we as humans tend to take things for granted. Our hope is on a higher level to get my mom through this fight together, as a family. And above all else, love. Love her through it, love each other through it, and by spreading love through it.

As to further help my mother and father to ease some of the pain and hardship that unfortunately comes with this disease, I am asking for donations of tokens with love from near and far. These gracious tokens of love will help to secure meals in the household and the unforeseen financial circumstances that have come upon them. In addition to providing a token of love, I am also requesting to spread more love to people you know and even don’t know to make this world a more loveable place.

In conclusion, my mother has a long fight ahead of her but, rest assured, she is not alone! We thank you for reading, contributing, and spreading more love! May God bless you all!