End of Life, and New Beginnings: Please Help Us Heal

On May 31, 2023, my family received the devastating news that my mom has cancer.

My mom, my best friend, my strength, the first person I’ve ever loved-has c a n c e r.

Back in mid March, she had been feeling particularly awful for a couple weeks, spiking fevers, and feeling nauseous and pain in her belly. When we arrived at the hospital, she was also dealing with a severe bout of aFIB, where her heart rate would go from 60 bpm, to 130, and bouncing all over the place. Because of this, she was triaged as emergent. Some bloodwork was ran, urinalysis, and ultimately a CT scan, which revealed a ruptured appendix! It was at this point that she was admitted, and a drain was surgically placed (with no pain meds, I might add ), and they decided to treat with antibiotics for a week before releasing her. She was due back for surgery in 6 to 8 weeks. A follow up CT showed that there was still an ‘abscess’ on the scan, so she was given oral antibiotics for another week.

Flash forward to May 26, when she was in for her appendectomy surgery; The surgery was taking quite a bit longer than it normally would, but she made it through OK! I was terrified that she might not make it through the anesthesia, given that she has many serious adverse health conditions, so you can imagine my relief when the hospital called for me to meet her in recovery! It was that moment our world changed, when the doctor told me he could not remove the appendix because he found a mass…

A biopsy of the mass was sent to pathology, and five days later, on my lunch break at work, I read the report: Grade 3, signet ring cell type adenocarcinoma (SRCC).

Gutted.

My mom, my person.

We are a cancer family now.

SRCCs are very rare cancers, and their prognosis varies, depending on the site of the tumor, and if it has spread. As of right now, we do not know mom‘s prognosis, or how far the cancer may be in her body. But what we do know, is we have a long road ahead of us. The next step so far is major surgery to remove the mass, part of her colon, bowel resection, and HIPEC chemo therapy, which will take place in Edmonton.

And that brings me to this fundraiser:

I’m asking for your help today, because as her sole caregiver I will be missing work for trips to the cancer centre in Edmonton for her surgery, chemo, and any follow ups. There will be hotel and vehicle expenses (please for the love of all things holy, pray that my vehicle doesn’t need any more major repairs right now!! ), as well as any caregiving expenses for my kids. And Lord knows what is going to happen with the state of our healthcare system and social programs. We have never been on this journey before, so I don’t even realistically know how much of a financial toll this will inevitably take on us, but my mom as a fixed/low income senior and myself as a single parent working part time, slightly above minimum wage- we are going to need help.

Direction to medical financial resources is also incredibly appreciated at this time!

Any money raised above what we need, will be used to provide some quality of life for my sweet mama-some comfortable pajamas, some good food, some digital entertainment credits, and most importantly, a damage deposit to get her out of the terrible place that she’s living in now. This is the woman who raised my brother and I on her own. The woman who took in our troubled friends on multiple occasions, growing up. The woman who gives her last five dollars to homeless people on the street. The woman who loves my babies as much as I do. The woman who gives so selflessly all. The. Time.

My mom is my world and I simply cannot exist without her.

Please help if you can, and share if you can’t.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. ❤️