Funeral & Medical Costs Fund for Liane McDonnell
Donation protected
My mom, Liane McDonnell, was an amazing woman. She was strong, loyal, opinionated (as she always said, she's got that Irish temper and German stubbornness), and above all, a fighter.
December 18th of 2018, she went to the doctor for an exam, and they found a large tumor. After tests over Christmas and New Years, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, stage four, which had already spread to a few small spots on her lungs.
She went through chemo and multiple rounds of internal and external radiation, which unfortunately caused severe side effects and complications for her. Through it all, she held out the steadfast hope that any day she would turn the corner and start getting better. Start feeling stronger again.
We got good news that the cervical tumor had responded well and mostly died off and we celebrated. Then we found out that her lungs hadn't responded. And then we found new spots on her liver. She started Immunotherapy over the summer, as her doctors felt that she wouldn't be able to withstand more chemo.
On December 26th, she was hospitalized again, and after three weeks of near daily talk of being discharged, she took a sudden turn for the worse and had to be admitted to the ICU. After meetings with her doctors, it was determined that she wasn't responding to the immunotherapy and hospice was the best option to give us quality time for the couple weeks we were told she had left.
Less than 24 hours later, she passed in her sleep.
Through this past year, we've unfortunately completely drained our resources trying to keep up with bills; my brother stopped working to stay home and take care of her 24/7 as she was unable to stand or walk, I cashed out my 401K, and went through my savings account. We thought she had life insurance, but we only found out the day before she passed that it was a term policy that expired two years ago and she didn't convert it. As a result, my brother and I are trying to figure out how to support her end of life costs and left over medical bills, on top of the next few months of "regular life" bills like rent, utilities, and food until my brother gets back in the workforce and we can downsize our house to stabilize ourselves financially.
If you are able to help, it would mean so much to us as we try to find our new sense of normal without her.
We would like to send Thank You notes to anyone who is able to help; so, as the information is not collected on GoFundMe, I would appreciate if you would be kind enough to send me a good address where I can send a personalized card. You can send me a direct/private message by clicking the "contact" button next to my name at the bottom of the page, so it isn't published in the comments.
Also, if you have any photos or videos of or with my mom, or even want to share a story about her, I would dearly love to hear and see them.
Thank you, for making her life a more colorful place. She spoke often of her many friends, laughingly told me the of her day where you all co-starred in her shenanigans, and through her, made my life greater as well. I'll forever be grateful to her and you all.
December 18th of 2018, she went to the doctor for an exam, and they found a large tumor. After tests over Christmas and New Years, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, stage four, which had already spread to a few small spots on her lungs.
She went through chemo and multiple rounds of internal and external radiation, which unfortunately caused severe side effects and complications for her. Through it all, she held out the steadfast hope that any day she would turn the corner and start getting better. Start feeling stronger again.
We got good news that the cervical tumor had responded well and mostly died off and we celebrated. Then we found out that her lungs hadn't responded. And then we found new spots on her liver. She started Immunotherapy over the summer, as her doctors felt that she wouldn't be able to withstand more chemo.
On December 26th, she was hospitalized again, and after three weeks of near daily talk of being discharged, she took a sudden turn for the worse and had to be admitted to the ICU. After meetings with her doctors, it was determined that she wasn't responding to the immunotherapy and hospice was the best option to give us quality time for the couple weeks we were told she had left.
Less than 24 hours later, she passed in her sleep.
Through this past year, we've unfortunately completely drained our resources trying to keep up with bills; my brother stopped working to stay home and take care of her 24/7 as she was unable to stand or walk, I cashed out my 401K, and went through my savings account. We thought she had life insurance, but we only found out the day before she passed that it was a term policy that expired two years ago and she didn't convert it. As a result, my brother and I are trying to figure out how to support her end of life costs and left over medical bills, on top of the next few months of "regular life" bills like rent, utilities, and food until my brother gets back in the workforce and we can downsize our house to stabilize ourselves financially.
If you are able to help, it would mean so much to us as we try to find our new sense of normal without her.
We would like to send Thank You notes to anyone who is able to help; so, as the information is not collected on GoFundMe, I would appreciate if you would be kind enough to send me a good address where I can send a personalized card. You can send me a direct/private message by clicking the "contact" button next to my name at the bottom of the page, so it isn't published in the comments.
Also, if you have any photos or videos of or with my mom, or even want to share a story about her, I would dearly love to hear and see them.
Thank you, for making her life a more colorful place. She spoke often of her many friends, laughingly told me the of her day where you all co-starred in her shenanigans, and through her, made my life greater as well. I'll forever be grateful to her and you all.
Organizer
Melissa Gagermeier
Organizer
Towson, MD
