My precious Mama is currently in the end stages of a completely treatable and curable skin cancer called Basal Cell Carcinoma. At this point, it’s turned into metastatic brain cancer. We currently can’t afford a proper burial, headstone, etc., and I’d like to give my mother something beautiful and meaningful rather than a simple marker.

She was diagnosed when I was 13; I am now 26. She had a biopsy and removal, but it returned. A little bit before my 15th birthday, I was unfortunately placed into DCS custody. After battling rising rent/housing costs, she moved in with my uncle.

For seven years, my uncle continued to medically neglect my mother, physically abuse her, steal any income she received (SSI and SNAP), allowed other addicts to steal her identity, and left her living in fear in a home where she should have been cared for. The entire time she had the Medicare and Medicaid necessary to receive treatment.

In 2022, my husband and I drove an hour away to pick her up and get her out of those conditions. After she moved in with us, I started to take her to doctors and specialists, trying to see the exact damage and if anything could be done. We were informed that it was advanced and that removal via Moh’s surgery was impossible due to her low weight and not having anywhere to be able to take skin from. We went the route of immunotherapy just to see if it’d help. Sadly, upon her second visit, she experienced adverse side effects that made her choose to end the treatment. From that point on, we knew that eventually it would progress and take her life. She has always opted for more palliative care measures after facing several brain tumors throughout her life.

In November of 2025, just a few days before Thanksgiving, she had a seizure in front of me that started off focal but quickly turned violent. I called 911 and met the ambulance at Tennova. Doctors informed me that it was due to her condition and referred us to hospice. Everything since has been a nightmare and struggle. I do get some help from hospice a couple of times per week for about 20 minutes—but for the most part, I have been her caregiver. After more seizure activity along with many other symptoms, she seems to be continuing to decline medically. Any help is deeply appreciated and would help me honor her during and after this rough transition ❤️