Charlotte's Prama Cancer Treatment
Donation protected
If you guys are seeing this, you know my mother, Charlotte Barbagallo. Or you at least know me, which means you know my mother. Because the very best parts of me came from her.
For those of you who might not know my mother, let me tell you about her.
My parents started off in extreme poverty. Sometimes my mom worried how she was going to have enough food to feed us all. We all at one time shared a single bedroom in a small apartment. We were definitely poor for a long time. But I remember lots of laughter and seeing my dad walk up behind my mom in the kitchen and wrap his arms around her and they would just stand there and hug, and we would all run to join in. Over the years, with both of my parents working harder than I've ever witnessed anyone work, they pulled us out of this poverty until they were recently finally at a point in their lives where they were getting a little comfortable, not worrying as much about the future like they had their whole lives. Life was finally getting easier, until they received the most devestating news of any of our lives. Cancer could soon take my mother away from us.
My siblings and I had the most carefree childhood. My mother, having had very little of a childhood herself, wanted to ensure that ours was filled with love and magic and she dedicated herself tirelessly to this goal. And succeeded.
On top of this, she wanted to prove herself as a person, a woman and a mother. She wanted to set a good example for her daughters of what women could achieve. So, while she worked full-time and raised three children, she somehow (in ways I still can't understand) managed to go to school and get a degree in accounting.
When she was pregnant with me (her first child) she worked on her feet every day in a paint factory. Through the years, through tireless dedication and wit, came to be an owner of a small wholesale tire business.
Throughout all of this, she also thought it was important to exercise and eat healthy for her own wellbeing and to, again, be an example to her children.
Around the time that all of us children were grown, life was looking pretty promising for her. After years of dedicating herself to her family and her business it appeared that her time had arrived. She could finally relax a little, maybe even travel.
Instead she worked tirelessly to keep her business afloat when the economy took a downturn. Then a couple years ago things started to level out again. It was finally HER time. ...
But something was wrong.
She was exhausted. She was having trouble sleeping. She couldn't eat. She couldn't even exercise anymore. A little over a year ago the tumor grew so large that this is how she became aware of it.
I don't think any of us believed it was actually cancer until after the surgery. Of all people. After how she always tried so hard to be healthy. My mom. Angel to so many. The glue of my family. The rock of everyone we knew. I truly believe that her constantly giving to others and placing herself under so much stress worrying about everyone else is what led to her getting sick.
The doctors told her if she refused treatment, she would be gone in six months.
So she dutifully followed doctor's instructions and began six weeks of chemo and radiation (maximum amount allowable) and we all watched her suffer in misery the entire time....wasting away to a shell of what she once was.
First the tumor shrank a little...then it started to grow faster. So she was scheduled for her second surgery. An APR surgery. It lasted just under 12 hours and left her body very altered including being permanently on a colostomy bag. We watched her literally scream and suffer through her recovery. My mother. One of the strongest people I've ever known. Someone who always suffered in silence. She was broken, but she slowly recovered.
Then she felt another growth. Maybe it wasn't cancer this time?....But it was. So she went in for her third surgery, which was again body altering, only to wake up and and find out it had spread to her lymphnodes.
She is now Stage 3B. One baby step away from 4. This new surgery they are recommending has tons of complications and a very low success rate. She is refusing further surgeries. Modern medicine has done all it can for her at this point as they openly admit their new solution isn't a very promising one.
We have one more promising treatment to try. Natural medicine. God's medicine. She has started juicing, meditating, seeing an accupuncturist, using Chinese herbs and eating an organic, plant based, alkaline diet and she's finally started to feel good again. She has had a couple of familiar looking growths starting to form only to see them starting to shrink again.
Recently she went to meet with the amazing people at Prama Institute. They reviewed her case and have come up with what they believe is the ideal treatment for her situation. It will include juice detoxing, alkaline foods based on her Ayurvedic needs, psychotherapy, physical rehabilitation, yoga, meditation and more.
The cost for 30 days is $8000.
I had to beg my mother to let me tell her story and ask for help because, anyone who knows her knows that she is a private person who never ever asks for handouts. In fact, she's spent her entire life giving them. I know she has probably personally touched many of your lives.
She is truly the most beautiful person I've ever met in my life and she DESERVES this! Not just for the healing because there are no promises here (although we are SO hopeful!) but also because she deserves to be in this beautiful place and taken care of for 30 days. The first 30 days of her life that someone else will be taking care of her other than when she literally could not move after her surgeries. That includes her childhood. She has never been able to just rest and "BE". This is her time! And she deserves to be able to do this knowing she's not draining their savings even more than they've already had to in order to do this.
She deserves this regardless of what the future holds. And if the future is bleak, she deserves the peace that it will give her as she faces her final days. She also deserves to see the love from all of us every time this account rises by even $1.
Please take a moment and a few dollars to show my mother the love that she has spent her entire life showing others.
For those of you who might not know my mother, let me tell you about her.
My parents started off in extreme poverty. Sometimes my mom worried how she was going to have enough food to feed us all. We all at one time shared a single bedroom in a small apartment. We were definitely poor for a long time. But I remember lots of laughter and seeing my dad walk up behind my mom in the kitchen and wrap his arms around her and they would just stand there and hug, and we would all run to join in. Over the years, with both of my parents working harder than I've ever witnessed anyone work, they pulled us out of this poverty until they were recently finally at a point in their lives where they were getting a little comfortable, not worrying as much about the future like they had their whole lives. Life was finally getting easier, until they received the most devestating news of any of our lives. Cancer could soon take my mother away from us.
My siblings and I had the most carefree childhood. My mother, having had very little of a childhood herself, wanted to ensure that ours was filled with love and magic and she dedicated herself tirelessly to this goal. And succeeded.
On top of this, she wanted to prove herself as a person, a woman and a mother. She wanted to set a good example for her daughters of what women could achieve. So, while she worked full-time and raised three children, she somehow (in ways I still can't understand) managed to go to school and get a degree in accounting.
When she was pregnant with me (her first child) she worked on her feet every day in a paint factory. Through the years, through tireless dedication and wit, came to be an owner of a small wholesale tire business.
Throughout all of this, she also thought it was important to exercise and eat healthy for her own wellbeing and to, again, be an example to her children.
Around the time that all of us children were grown, life was looking pretty promising for her. After years of dedicating herself to her family and her business it appeared that her time had arrived. She could finally relax a little, maybe even travel.
Instead she worked tirelessly to keep her business afloat when the economy took a downturn. Then a couple years ago things started to level out again. It was finally HER time. ...
But something was wrong.
She was exhausted. She was having trouble sleeping. She couldn't eat. She couldn't even exercise anymore. A little over a year ago the tumor grew so large that this is how she became aware of it.
I don't think any of us believed it was actually cancer until after the surgery. Of all people. After how she always tried so hard to be healthy. My mom. Angel to so many. The glue of my family. The rock of everyone we knew. I truly believe that her constantly giving to others and placing herself under so much stress worrying about everyone else is what led to her getting sick.
The doctors told her if she refused treatment, she would be gone in six months.
So she dutifully followed doctor's instructions and began six weeks of chemo and radiation (maximum amount allowable) and we all watched her suffer in misery the entire time....wasting away to a shell of what she once was.
First the tumor shrank a little...then it started to grow faster. So she was scheduled for her second surgery. An APR surgery. It lasted just under 12 hours and left her body very altered including being permanently on a colostomy bag. We watched her literally scream and suffer through her recovery. My mother. One of the strongest people I've ever known. Someone who always suffered in silence. She was broken, but she slowly recovered.
Then she felt another growth. Maybe it wasn't cancer this time?....But it was. So she went in for her third surgery, which was again body altering, only to wake up and and find out it had spread to her lymphnodes.
She is now Stage 3B. One baby step away from 4. This new surgery they are recommending has tons of complications and a very low success rate. She is refusing further surgeries. Modern medicine has done all it can for her at this point as they openly admit their new solution isn't a very promising one.
We have one more promising treatment to try. Natural medicine. God's medicine. She has started juicing, meditating, seeing an accupuncturist, using Chinese herbs and eating an organic, plant based, alkaline diet and she's finally started to feel good again. She has had a couple of familiar looking growths starting to form only to see them starting to shrink again.
Recently she went to meet with the amazing people at Prama Institute. They reviewed her case and have come up with what they believe is the ideal treatment for her situation. It will include juice detoxing, alkaline foods based on her Ayurvedic needs, psychotherapy, physical rehabilitation, yoga, meditation and more.
The cost for 30 days is $8000.
I had to beg my mother to let me tell her story and ask for help because, anyone who knows her knows that she is a private person who never ever asks for handouts. In fact, she's spent her entire life giving them. I know she has probably personally touched many of your lives.
She is truly the most beautiful person I've ever met in my life and she DESERVES this! Not just for the healing because there are no promises here (although we are SO hopeful!) but also because she deserves to be in this beautiful place and taken care of for 30 days. The first 30 days of her life that someone else will be taking care of her other than when she literally could not move after her surgeries. That includes her childhood. She has never been able to just rest and "BE". This is her time! And she deserves to be able to do this knowing she's not draining their savings even more than they've already had to in order to do this.
She deserves this regardless of what the future holds. And if the future is bleak, she deserves the peace that it will give her as she faces her final days. She also deserves to see the love from all of us every time this account rises by even $1.
Please take a moment and a few dollars to show my mother the love that she has spent her entire life showing others.
Organizer and beneficiary
Tammi Barbagallo
Organizer
Hudson, NC
Charlotte Barbagallo
Beneficiary
