Through every difficult moment in our lives, whenever we've needed support, our kind, funny, and smart mom—known as Pat to friends, family, and colleagues and Nana to her grandson Luke—has always reassured us, "Do what you need to do." This fundraiser is what we need to do right now. That's because, to our shock and sadness, we found out just before Christmas that our mom has terminal lung cancer that has spread to her brain. She's currently hospitalized and we're told she likely has only a month, maybe a little more, to live. On top of this, she has mid-stage Alzheimer's disease with primary progressive aphasia, which means her ability to express herself through speech is highly impaired.

We're working on getting our mom healthy enough to come home from the hospital so she can spend her final weeks in hospice with her family in comforting, familiar surroundings. In-home hospice is covered by Medicare, but we'll need caregiving help on a daily basis, which we can't afford. Our dad will also need help with the last month of medical bills. Then, the most difficult and heartbreaking help we’ll need is for her funeral costs.

We were unaware of the lung cancer until mid-December and blindsided by her prognosis. She has taken care of us in every way during our lives and we want to take care of her as she departs this life. We love our mom, Luke loves his Nana, our dad loves his wife, and we know so many other people love her, too.

It's been an extremely difficult year for our mom and our family. Thank you for helping us get her safely home.

Any remaining funds will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association.

Jennifer, Lauren, Christine, and John