Hello! My name is Marlisa Perez-Moore. I am the daughter of this wonderful woman, Lisa Coates. I created this GoFundMe for my mother because of her recent diagnosis of Stage 3 Breast Cancer at 46 years old. Lisa’s journey started in early August 2025. The first to find out in our household was my stepfather, Dave Coates, then me, then my 10-year-old brother. Not many of our family members know about her diagnosis yet.

Lisa’s first month of chemotherapy has been a rollercoaster of a ride. The first thing Lisa was worried about was her hair, of course. I would be too if I had long curly hair like hers. She asked me to cut it one morning to try and save as much of it as she could. And that’s what we did; we took off around 9 inches that day. But sadly, chemo was not kind to her beautiful hair; it has already started to take away that once thick and precious hair. I will not lie, it is very heartbreaking to see her without her luscious curly hair. I never could have imagined having longer hair than my mother in a million years. I’d like to preserve the images of her having that once long and desirable curly hair, so that is what I used for her GoFundMe.

She has already started to lose her spark, and it’s only the first month of treatment. The life in her eyes is more dull, the constant nausea and aches, the energy she once had now gone, the relentless tiredness always surrounding her. I didn’t think I would have to make this GoFundMe so… soon. I thought I would have more time. Thanksgiving and Christmas being prematurely canceled all because of cancer.

She can no longer work, tend to her beloved garden, or enjoy the blazing sun. With Lisa being out of work, that leaves one steady stream of income for the household: my stepfather, Dave Coates. He works a normal 9 to 5 contracting job on the weekdays. To not interfere with the only stream of income, some close family members, friends, and I all help out with rides for Lisa to get to her appointments when she needs them.

I made this GoFundMe so that my family doesn't have to stress about bills during this hard time. I don’t want to see my parents struggle financially or possibly live paycheck to paycheck. She applied for food stamps, which will exponentially help the 4 hungry mouths in our home. She has already started to apply for all the help she can get.

Anything helps. Thank you for reading about my mother’s story.