Help Alma fulfill her wish to see Sistine Chapel

Hello! My name is Chessa and I am fundraising for my Aunt Alma and her husband Rick to be able to fulfill the one dream she has of visiting Rome and seeing the Sistine Chapel.

Let me tell you about my brave, strong and beautiful aunt.

Six years ago, my aunt was diagnosed with Uterine Serous Carcinoma for which the average survival rate is two years or less. My aunt's brave fight against her cancer and her bright cheerful demeanor throughout have impressed both her medical team and all those who have encountered her along the way. After a radical hysterectomy, two rounds of chemo, radiation, and two and a half years of immunotherapy, her doctors feel like they have exhausted their arsenal of treatments and that she has entered the final phase of her fight. They have one more chemo drug available but have made it known that it is not a cure and can only help buy her three to nine months. Her doctors are reluctant to make any specific predictions but have told Rick, her husband, that on average, when patients enter this phase of their fight, the cancer metastasizes rapidly causing damage to vital organs within three months to a year. Aunt Alma and Rick are nowhere close to giving up. My aunt is still strong. To look at her, you'd never know she is fighting cancer. They continue to fight it through diet, exercise, a positive attitude, and the support of family and friends. For the last several weeks, they have been working with a Tibetan doctor from New York. In that time, they've seen her liver enzyme levels and that of CA125 (a cancer marker for endometrial cancers) takes a sudden turn downward: a source of encouragement. My aunt has surprised her doctors several times during the past six years; both my aunt and Rick believe she has more surprises for them.

Six years ago, at the time of her diagnosis, he had asked my aunt if she felt she had any unfinished business or bucket list items she would like to check off. My aunt told him that the only dream she had not been able to fulfill is to see Rome and the Sistine Chapel. Rick promised her that he would try to help make that dream come true.

My aunt Alma and Rick are both retirees with a very fixed income. I am trying to help them both with fulfilling this dream sooner rather than later, while my aunt is still healthy enough to travel.

The money I raise will go towards the purchase of their airline tickets, hotel accommodations, transportation within the city and enough funds for food and miscellaneous.