My name is Jessica Hernandez, and Lisa Casillas is my sister-in-law. She is one of the kindest, most outgoing, compassionate, and loving people I know. She has been through some tough times in life, but what she’s about to face is probably the most challenging thing any mother should have to endure.

Lisa has struggled with kidney problems most of her life and was under the impression that the pain and discomfort she was feeling daily was normal. Until about twelve years ago when the kidney that was causing her pain was finally removed which essentially saved her life, little did we know that major surgery she went through at 31 years old would only be a bump in the road of her medical story.

Over the last year Lisa began experiencing swelling, fatigue, high blood pressure, and unbearable pain again. She has been admitted into the hospital numerous times over the last seven months, but during one of her stays in December, she was told her one remaining kidney was failing, thus causing heart failure, and putting a lot of stress on the rest of her organs. Eventually a stent was placed in her kidney to help restore the flow of her fluids, and that seemed to help for a while. She was discharged and went home for a few days until she started experiencing extreme pain again and when she returned to the hospital, she was admitted overnight only to be told the next morning, there was nothing else they could do to help her, and they were too short on staff for her to stay there because Christmas was a few days away, and they discharged her. She felt discouraged and defeated, but our family got together and convinced her to seek a second opinion and look for a doctor with more experience handling cases like hers. Luckily, she found a doctor in Round Rock about three hours away that was willing to try to help her. With Christmas just a few days away at this point she was upset about leaving town because not only was she going to miss out on time with her parents and siblings, she was also going to miss Christmas with her three youngest sons, her daughter and son-in-law, and her two grandchildren, but we knew she had to leave to get more answers, so she did.

She was hospitalized for weeks in Round Rock and during that time her doctors were able to figure out what was causing her pain. The stent that was placed in her kidney had shifted and needed to be moved back. They scheduled her for a procedure to relocate the stent and we thought things were finally starting to look up for a change, until the results came back from the tests they ran on her. They found a mass that was blocking the flow of her urine. Because of the placement and size of the mass the doctors weren’t comfortable removing it surgically, so they did a biopsy on the tumor and luckily it was benign. With her kidney functioning again they sent her home and scheduled follow up appointments so they could monitor the mass and try to figure out a treatment plan for the mass since surgery was out of the question.

Things seemed to be going well for a little while when she returned home, and we thought she may even be able to finally return to work since she had been out for many months. Until her stent started giving her trouble again, and before long she was back in Round Rock undergoing another procedure to have the stent replaced with a nephrostomy bag (bag of urine from her kidneys). While she was there the doctors discussed their options on handling the mass growing on her ureter and they decided to treat it with steroids and infusions. She has gone through one infusion treatment so far, and is scheduled to have another one on June 24th, however the infusion doesn’t seem to be helping so far, in fact based on her last scans, her mass has grown since they first discovered it in December. So now her doctor in Round Rock has unfortunately informed her that there is nothing left that they can do to help her, and he advised her to seek medical attention elsewhere.

With nowhere left to turn here in Texas, Lisa will be leaving after her on June 24th. She’s going to Chicago to see a specialist with hopes that they will be able to help her get rid of the mass and get her organs functioning properly again. We have no idea how long she’ll be gone or what exactly they’re going to do for her.

While she’s in Chicago receiving medical care, her children will stay in San Angelo, along with her father, whom she also cares for because he’s unable to care for himself. She hasn’t worked since December and will not be able to work while she’s receiving medical care in Chicago. The only source of income she will be able to rely on for herself, her kids, and her dad is whatever her bar brings in.

We’re asking that anyone that is willing to donate anything to help her get through this stay away from her family please do so. The cost of living is outrageous right now, and she’s having to take that on without a job, without a set income, stuck in another state away from her kids and her dad. She’s taking a huge leap of faith and stepping back from all the responsibilities she faces everyday as a mom, a daughter, a grandmother, a sister, a business owner, a friend, and everything in between to fight for her life.

So we’re asking that you please help her on this journey because we don’t know where it’s going to lead or where it’s going to end up, but we know she’s a fighter and she’s going to do her part to make sure she comes home to her family, so please help her by donating anything you can to ease her mind and give her one less thing to worry about while she’s gone.

Even if it’s just $5, I promise it counts, and I can guarantee that she would do it for you. Thank you to all who support Lisa's Journey; continued prayers are very much needed!

Her cash app is $lshern01 if anyone wants to cash app her directly as well.

Again we appreciate all you! Thank you again for all of the thoughts and prayers!