Give my mum a better life

I never thought this day would come where i would be sharing my mum’s story. My mum was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer back in 2010, it is incurable but is treatable. For the last 10 years she has been able to live happily with having the tumours being treated once a month. However, 2 years ago she was diagnosed with a disease called Cushings. She was in hospital for 7 weeks, lost her hair, grew facial hair, swelled up to 80kg with fluid & lost her ability to walk by herself as the disease attacks all the muscles. She also was diagnosed with diabetes. She was in ICU & in a coma for a while while they treated her. It was a horrible thing to watch her go through, but she managed to push herself every day, my dad stood by her side through it all. She eventually had to have her adrenal glands removed to stop the cushings disease. This sadly has left her with the aftermath of osteoporosis and has several fractures in her spine, loss of hair, and myopathy to name some of the many. Every day my dad would help her learn to walk again with her walker down our hallway. She was so determined she eventually was able to start doing things by herself (showering, walking etc). This took about 3 months for her to come back to somewhat normality. The past 2 years have been extremely difficult for our family, she now struggles with keeping on weight as she has a disease called Gastroparesis, which is stomach emptying and is around 46kgs. She is small but mighty & many of her friends call her the little greek warrior. She had been doing well for a while, her hair started to grow back & her signature hairstyle is now piggy tails. She is still very weak and sleeps on and off throughout the day. She is honestly my biggest inspiration and i look up to her every single day. My dad is also my biggest hero, he gets her tablets ready morning, lunch & night, he has installed a door bell in her bedroom so when she needs him instead of yelling she presses the button and he runs down to her. He is such a strong man to watch his wife go through this and still be such a good dad to my sister & I.

The past few weeks she had been going downhill, she was rushed into ICU 2 days before New Years day as she had passed out and lost bodily functions. They soon found that her stomach was ridden with Ulcers & 3 of them were bleeding causing internal bleeding throughout her body. These ulcers are side effects of her cancer. Her blood count was 20 when the average person sits at around 150, The doctors were shocked that she was still alive as she could’ve gone into organ failure. She is currently in an induced coma as she passed out and stopped breathing the other morning. She is currently on a breathing regulator that is breathing for her, the hospital is now in lockdown due to covid so my dad cant go see her. He has not slept the past week. They are going to try turn the breathing machine off and when she starts breathing by herself, we will be able to finally speak to her.

The reason i have decided to share my mum & family’s story is because i truly believe my parents deserve so much better. These past 2 years have been crippling and all i wish for is my parents to have a normal and happy healthy life. My dad has had to take months off of work and i have had to help with almost everything around the house. I want to be able to give back to both of them for everything they have done for us & gone through. No family should ever have to go through this & i hope anyone in a similar situation finds health and happiness this year. Thankyou for anyone who took the time to read this - i know its alot but its from my heart and i hope it brings some awareness of this disease too. x