Funding Judith Rutkowski's end-of-life expenses

Very early in the morning on July 27, 2022, our beloved mom - Judy Rutkowski - passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

After months of combatting unexplained GI distress, she was diagnosed with aggressive Stage Four cancer just as her 69th birthday dawned on July 1st. At first, we were hopeful that she would receive treatment to at least get back on her feet, and to be able to share the joy of living with us for some time to come. This was not to be, as she required emergency care on the night of July 16th. She was admitted to the hospital that night, and the doctors deliberated how best to care for our mom.

However, she had already lost so much of her strength - so the doctors did not believe that she would make it through even the simplest of surgeries to relieve the pain she was feeling. This, combined with the news of the cancer having spread throughout several organs already, painted a bleak picture. Mom was able to participate in the discussions from her hospital bed, and she understood these facts - thus, she was ultimately able to make the decision herself to transition to Hospice care.

When the decision was made to choose Hospice on July 23, she benefited from the excellent care of the nursing staff who administered medications and other palliative care, which kept her comfortable and free of pain for her final 4 days. Her last moments were peaceful, as she slightly opened her eyes, sighed, and took her last breath. We had spent the days and nights at the hospital with our mom, assuring her of our love and gratitude, and telling her that it was time to rest now, after so many years of hard work and loving service to us and to the community at large.

Her illness progressed with such breathtaking rapidity that she was not able to make much provision for herself or for our future in those final weeks. Moreover, the house we have shared together these past 30 years is in need of serious repair, due to the fact that our dad, Paul, was diagnosed with a rare disease (NSF) in 2006 and was on permanent disability - with only a fixed Social Security income. Mom tried hard to make up the monthly shortfalls by giving private piano lessons in a local studio, but there was never enough money left after meeting the monthly bills to allow us to do necessary repairs on the house.

As we (Luna and Jakob) are now faced with serious decisions about the future, we have decided to set up this page - at the urging of a number of people - in the hope that we can address serious repair work that needs to be done, and that we can remain in our childhood home by paying off outstanding debts. We will also need help in meeting mom's final expenses and medical bills. Any assistance you can give us would be greatly appreciated, as we struggle through the sudden death of our mom and the financial aftermath.