Gift of Time//Cherish Every Moment with Kathleen

 
In May of 2009, my mother, Kathleen Nash Donlan, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Since that day, Kathleen has relentlessly battled cancer with every ounce of energy she has.  Her journey began with a right lung resection and postoperative recovery that gave her 24 months of health and happiness that she took full advantage of with her family and friends.  Unfortunately, this happy cancer free time didn’t last long and only marked the beginning of my mom’s 10-year battle against cancer.  The primary tumor had metastasized prior to her lung resection and my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer in July 2011.   She endured three different brain surgeries, a brain infection, countless rounds of localized radiation therapy and ultimately immunotherapy treatment with Avastin and Keytruda as a last attempt to control the relentless spread of cancer throughout her body.  Miraculously, my mother’s tumors responded to Keytruda, but complications resulting from the immune response led to lung toxicity and intracranial hemorrhage that has left my mom on oxygen, non-ambulatory and unable to care for herself.

I have been my mother’s primary caregiver since 2009 and together we have battled this disease with love, laughter, tears, perseverance and unbreakable wills that won’t ever give up.  There have been many highs along the way but each low is now getting more challenging for us to manage and we know that the gift of time can only last so long and we need to cherish every moment we have together.  Making this trying time even more difficult is that our health insurance and a hospice care agency has failed to provide the ongoing support, treatment and care that my mom requires. This disappointing and stressful situation has forced me to use personal savings to provide private care that my mom requires.  

My mom is a fighter even in her 18-month hospice journey and we are thankful for every minute we have with her, but the long fight has depleted our resources.  The support from our GoFundMe will go directly to providing 24 hour home health aides, certified nursing assistants, medications, medical supplies, and therapists to manage painful symptoms of spasticity, rigidity and ongoing health challenges related to Metastatic Cancer, Advanced COPD, and complications from an Intracranial Stroke.  Any support you can provide will be a great help and deeply appreciated.  Also, if you could please forward and share Kathleen's story with friends and family in your network we would be forever grateful.

A HEARTFELT THANK YOU to each and every one of you for taking the time to read and share Kathleen's cancer journey. As with all cancer cases, this has been a battle, we are so grateful for all the wonderful support Mom has received over the years from our community of family, friends, and clinicians during her decade of treatments. The journey has not been an easy one but we continue to cherish each day as a gift and every day we are reminded of how fragile our lives can be. ❤️ Xo