Hi, my name is Erica and I am Lorri’s daughter. My family and I are setting up this GoFundMe to help with the unexpected medical expenses, comfort care, as well as end of life arrangements following my mom’s cancer diagnosis.

In May, at 68 years old, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer. This was out of the blue as she had no symptoms other than some pain near her hip that started at the end of March, for which she went to the doctor and was told it was arthritis. My parents both came and visited me in New Zealand in April, and she used a cane to help her move around.

At the end of April, she noticed the lymph nodes in her neck were swollen. From there they did biopsies and it took weeks to confirm her cancer diagnosis and to see an Oncologist. We found out the pain in her hip/groin area was actually from swollen lymph nodes pressing on nerves/tissue/arthritis in the surrounding areas. It had metastasised from her cervix to her uterus and to at least her lymph nodes at that time.

At the end of May, the pain was so severe from the swollen lymph nodes that she was taken by ambulance to the ER. She wouldn’t leave the hospital until her birthday, July 12th. While in the hospital, the cancer spread to her pleural space around her lungs, and she now has in dwelling pleural catheters to drain off this fluid. She had pneumonia, and once recovered from that she received one round of chemo and did not tolerate it, ending up in ICU twice on BiPAP therapy to regulate her breathing. The swollen lymph nodes also blocked her kidney, and she now has a nephrostomy tube and at the time required continuous dialysis to take pressure off her kidneys. We almost lost her to this.

She stabilised enough to go to a rehab care facility and then to go home mid August. However, now she is back in the hospital again.

This time she has required a ventilator, more dialysis, more BiPAP therapy, and we aren’t sure how long she will be in the hospital at this stage. The cancer has spread to her sternum, and they are monitoring her closely. When she comes home she will be under hospice care and continue to be bedridden requiring a lot of support.

If you would like to give anything to help my family and I with making mom more comfortable, any unexpected hospital bills, and her end of life arrangements, we would appreciate it very much. We will read any and all comments to her as well.

Lorri is such a bright light in our family. She has never met a stranger, as she wants to befriend everyone she meets. If you’ve ever been stuck trying to say goodbye to her, you’ll understand! She also has 5 grandchildren who love very much.

We love you, mom!