Help Sue Pass In Comfort

We are reaching out for your help to support our mother, Susan Hadley of Milton, Massachusetts, as she enters the final stage of her life. On Friday, March 21st, 2025, she was diagnosed with metastatic small cell lung cancer. Just days later, more tests revealed the cancer had spread to her liver, kidneys, and bones. Then, after an MRI, we learned it had also reached her brain.

The timeline we were given is heartbreaking—just 2 or 3 months.

We were presented with two options: pursue aggressive chemotherapy that might extend her life by a few months but would leave her in extreme pain, or choose not to fight it—accepting that her body cannot endure such intense treatment and that her time is coming to an end.

As you can imagine, this news has shattered our world. There’s no cure. No way to save her life. And we’ve had to navigate all of this with barely a moment to catch our breath or begin to process the immense loss that is coming.

We’re reaching out for help so we can focus on being with her—grieving, supporting, and loving her—without the added stress of wondering what her care and living situation will be like as she transitions. Our hope is to place her in The Camellia at Gulf Breeze in Pensacola, Florida, a facility that can care for her skillfully and compassionately, giving her peace and comfort in her final days.

How You Can Help

Assisted Living Costs: $4,000 per month for a room with round-the-clock nurse care at The Camellia at Gulf Breeze. With an estimated timeline of 3 months, this will amount to $12,000.

Palliative Care Support: Her current insurance does not cover the cost of assisted living, so we are responsible for her palliative care support, and any unexpected medical expenses that may arise. We estimate this will cost around $2,000.

Additional Care and Support: Any extra funds will help cover unforeseen medical expenses or contribute to her end-of-life arrangements.

Share: If you can't contribute, please share this fundraiser with others who may want to so we can get closer to our goal.

We will be updating this page as time goes on to keep everyone who cares for her in the loop.

To those who know her, you know how special our mom is. She has an incredible ability to connect with anyone. She sees the world differently and in doing so she helps everyone around her in seeing it differently too. There’s a light inside her that you can feel just by being near her. Her heart is full of compassion. My sister and I grew up knowing we could share anything with her—without fear of judgment. She listened deeply and helped us work through every problem with patience and love.

She was that same safe place for so many others—friends, neighbors, classmates. She loved people unconditionally.

Some of our fondest memories are riding the train to Davis Square to get ramen and wander the shops, skipping school to spend the day at Wingaersheek Beach, walking through the woods near our home in Acton collecting bittersweet for Christmas, or picking blueberries at Honey Pot Hill Orchard after swimming in Lake Boon. We were lucky to have such a fun, adventurous, and free-spirited mom. She taught us to let go, to trust life, and to ride the wave instead of trying to control it.

But there were also deep struggles.

Our mom has battled addiction for many years. It’s a disease that clouded her ability to make healthy decisions, for herself and for us. As her daughters, we’ve watched many doors close on her. We’ve watched people turn away. And we’ve watched our mom suffer deeply, while others mistook her illness for who she was.

We understand how hard it can be to love someone who’s struggling—someone who keeps losing their way. But at the end of the day, don’t we all deserve to pass with dignity? Addiction is an illness. And it’s not her fault that she’s had to fight this battle. We saw firsthand how it destroyed her. And now, we want to give her peace.

Please help us provide care, comfort, and compassion during her final days—not just for her, but for the two daughters and granddaughters who love their Su-Su more than anything.

With love and gratitude,

Juliet & Paulina