Hi everyone. This is a long one but I promise you, this story is worth the wait. This is my mom’s story. My mom is 56 years old. Her name is Lyzzy Navarrete. On 01/27/2025, she was diagnosed with cancer. This cancer is rare and it affects less than 1% of all cancers in women. She originally was told that it was stage 3 and we certainly had high hopes in beating this disease.

Before she started treatment, we had a doctor’s visit in Savannah on 04/24/2025 and on the way there, she started hemorrhaging blood in my car from the abscess the cancer created. My sister and I was so scared that we were going to lose our mom in my car. There was a lot of blood pooling on the floor of my car. The first thing she said when the nurses were getting her out was, “Mamita, I’m sorry about ruining your car.” I told her to not worry about the car and that I only cared about her being okay. She’s always cared about her children first. She puts herself aside and only thinks about her children thriving.

My twin sister and I are 34 years old and the main thing she says all the time is, “If I pass away, who’s going to take care of you? Who’s going to take care of your twin sister Izzy” She still sees us as the little kids she raised and wants to take care of us. She went through chemotherapy and radiation in Brunswick, GA, and I wish I could’ve taken the pain away. But she never stopped fighting. She kept pushing and pushing to get better and finally, after 2 months of treatments, she was done and we came back home. She did a PET scan after waiting 3 months since the chemo and radiation is still fighting the cancer and guess what? The cancer shrunk to the size of a pea. We were so happy and I told my mom that she did such a great job. We had to wait another 3 months to see if the cancer would be eliminated completely.

But during that time, mom started getting worse again. She waited and did another PET scan. We went back to Savannah to get the results and unfortunately, it was the worst news ever. The cancer grew again and with a vengeance. They told us it was actually Stage 4A. It started eating at her skin externally. She was given 6-8 months left to live that day, if she does chemotherapy again. But even then, she had faith in God and said she wanted to do chemotherapy. She was so tired but she started chemo again on 02/04/2026. This chemo was 3 different drugs and they said there would be complications but she wanted to keep fighting. A few days later, she had to go to the hospital again because the chemo drugs she received caused her to have a fistula. She came home after a week of being in the hospital. The doctors said that she has days or maybe a few weeks left to live. And since then, she was bedridden. We stopped the chemo and had her in hospice care at home. She was able to meet her grandson  and see my brother, her youngest son, Alex, and his wife Isabel, after not seeing my brother for many years. I know seeing them made her heart full. 

I couldn’t accept that the fight she was battling was over. She worked so hard in 2025 to fight this cancer. To stay with us. No matter how hard it was for her, she was only thinking about her grown kids. I’m writing this on 05/08/2026 because she proved the doctors wrong. She didn’t have weeks left. It’s been 2 months and 3 weeks since they gave us the news. As of yesterday, she stopped eating and is only drinking maybe less than 2 ounces of water because she doesn’t know how to swallow anymore. She’s not able to speak clear sentences. Our mom is slipping away but I don’t want her suffering anymore. No matter if she’s on the highest pain medication, she’s always in pain. But since she’s not eating anymore and barely drinking, hospice said to get prepared and to call funeral homes and make arrangements.

There’s a certain amount of pain that nobody feels until you lose a loved one. Knowing that she’s slipping away… How do you prepare to let go of your mom? You don’t. You just know that you don’t want her suffering. All the women who have reached this far in the story, I urge you to please, no matter what age you are, go to the gynecologist. Get checked. A simple 20-30 minute exam can save your life. It could’ve saved my mom. Now we only wait for God to give the last word. It’s only up to Him now. Thank you everyone.