Hope for Terri
Donation protected
The Colligan family has endured so much loss in the past few months, from loosing a baby at only 31 days old to loosing a mother and wife at only 54 years old, only 2 months later to the exact day.
My mom, Terri was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 27, had a double mastectomy and was cancer free for the last 26 years. In Feb of 2015 she went for an MRI and discovered her cancer had come back... this time in the bones. My mom told us she was "screwed" However we had hope that with all the new drugs and treatments out there that she would have a fighting chance. I watched my mom struggle to walk for months on end, some days she couldn't even talk, she hadn't eaten in months... it was beyond horrible to go through but I would do anything just to sit there and rub her head, or get her a glass of ovaltine (as those of you who know my mom knows how much she loved her ovaltine) I know that it wouldn't be fair to my mom for her to still be here because she was in so much pain, but I just wish she could have been cured.
Rather quickly it spread from her bones to her bone marrow, stomach, liver, brain, and continued to grow. Before we knew it my mom was covered in cancer. All the while we had hope though because we knew my mom was such a fighter. Throughout numerous doctor appointments, treatments, days that my mom just had a really bad day my father burned up all of his sick time, he had sick time donated to him and went through all of that, just to be by my mother's side. All days off now are not paid. My mom stopped working in June and since then all the finances have been on my father.
As many of you know getting life insurance when you have had cancer is next to impossible. My mom had tried for the past few years to get an additional life insurance policy because the one she had would not help cover all of the funeral costs, cemmetary, bills, and so forth. However due to the cancer she was never able to get another policy so my dad had to pay out of pocket for almost the whole thing.
My mom being the hard worker that she is worked part time at St. Joes Wayne Hospital for the last 30 years and also worked for Dr. Abessi as well. Working part time in the hospital she was never entitled to a 401k or pension so my dad doesn't have that to help him out either.
Over the past few days my father & I have heard countless stories about how much my mom helped someone... she even saved many lives. I heard that from at least 10 different people that I met at my mom's wake... and it is so uplifting to hear about my mom... She helped millions of people all the time. Afterall that is what being a nurse is all about, but my mom was one of the best nurses. She worried about everyone else before herself even when she was sick.
My father & I have watched my mom die a slow death over the past few months. We both tried to take off from work as much as we possibly could to be their for her. I even lost my job during that time because my old employer supposably didn't have the funds to pay me any longer... I am currently & thankfully working part-time but still it isn't enough to help cover the costs of my own medical bills (I lost my daughter on September 1st) and help my father with all of the household bills and mortgage and everything else.
If anyone knew my mom they knew how much she loved her home, how much she LOVED her backyard... I would never want my father to loose this house and I never saw my parents struggle in my 27 years of life until this past year. Emotionally I am heartbroken and if I could go out there and work 10 jobs right now to help my dad I would, but unforatunely I am an emotional reck and so is my dad.
We thank all of our family and friends for all of their support during this extremley difficult time in our lives. We are reaching out to ask for any type of donation. Wether it is $5 or $20. Most of us spend a minimum of $40/week on coffee. If you could find it in your heart to even donate $5 we would be extremley gracious.
It has been the hardest months of my dads and my life between loosing my daughter and now I lost my mom she was my best friend and truly is the love of my dads life. Life will never be the same for either of us but I am trying to do whatever I can do to help my dad.
We appreicate any and all donations and if anything is left over after many bills and finances are sorted through we would like to donate to Guardians of the Ribbon, the Northern New Jersey Chapter ran by Daria Lojik.
My mom, Terri was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 27, had a double mastectomy and was cancer free for the last 26 years. In Feb of 2015 she went for an MRI and discovered her cancer had come back... this time in the bones. My mom told us she was "screwed" However we had hope that with all the new drugs and treatments out there that she would have a fighting chance. I watched my mom struggle to walk for months on end, some days she couldn't even talk, she hadn't eaten in months... it was beyond horrible to go through but I would do anything just to sit there and rub her head, or get her a glass of ovaltine (as those of you who know my mom knows how much she loved her ovaltine) I know that it wouldn't be fair to my mom for her to still be here because she was in so much pain, but I just wish she could have been cured.
Rather quickly it spread from her bones to her bone marrow, stomach, liver, brain, and continued to grow. Before we knew it my mom was covered in cancer. All the while we had hope though because we knew my mom was such a fighter. Throughout numerous doctor appointments, treatments, days that my mom just had a really bad day my father burned up all of his sick time, he had sick time donated to him and went through all of that, just to be by my mother's side. All days off now are not paid. My mom stopped working in June and since then all the finances have been on my father.
As many of you know getting life insurance when you have had cancer is next to impossible. My mom had tried for the past few years to get an additional life insurance policy because the one she had would not help cover all of the funeral costs, cemmetary, bills, and so forth. However due to the cancer she was never able to get another policy so my dad had to pay out of pocket for almost the whole thing.
My mom being the hard worker that she is worked part time at St. Joes Wayne Hospital for the last 30 years and also worked for Dr. Abessi as well. Working part time in the hospital she was never entitled to a 401k or pension so my dad doesn't have that to help him out either.
Over the past few days my father & I have heard countless stories about how much my mom helped someone... she even saved many lives. I heard that from at least 10 different people that I met at my mom's wake... and it is so uplifting to hear about my mom... She helped millions of people all the time. Afterall that is what being a nurse is all about, but my mom was one of the best nurses. She worried about everyone else before herself even when she was sick.
My father & I have watched my mom die a slow death over the past few months. We both tried to take off from work as much as we possibly could to be their for her. I even lost my job during that time because my old employer supposably didn't have the funds to pay me any longer... I am currently & thankfully working part-time but still it isn't enough to help cover the costs of my own medical bills (I lost my daughter on September 1st) and help my father with all of the household bills and mortgage and everything else.
If anyone knew my mom they knew how much she loved her home, how much she LOVED her backyard... I would never want my father to loose this house and I never saw my parents struggle in my 27 years of life until this past year. Emotionally I am heartbroken and if I could go out there and work 10 jobs right now to help my dad I would, but unforatunely I am an emotional reck and so is my dad.
We thank all of our family and friends for all of their support during this extremley difficult time in our lives. We are reaching out to ask for any type of donation. Wether it is $5 or $20. Most of us spend a minimum of $40/week on coffee. If you could find it in your heart to even donate $5 we would be extremley gracious.
It has been the hardest months of my dads and my life between loosing my daughter and now I lost my mom she was my best friend and truly is the love of my dads life. Life will never be the same for either of us but I am trying to do whatever I can do to help my dad.
We appreicate any and all donations and if anything is left over after many bills and finances are sorted through we would like to donate to Guardians of the Ribbon, the Northern New Jersey Chapter ran by Daria Lojik.
Organizer
John Colligan
Organizer
Wayne, NJ