I want to first say thank you ahead of time for your consideration in helping support me and my brother during this very unfortunate time of our lives.

At the beginning of 2024, during February, our mother was found to have a tumor around the size of a volleyball on her endometrium, uterus, and ovaries. She was swiftly scheduled for surgery, during which they did a total hysterectomy, omentectomy, and removal of some of the surface of her bladder. After the surgery it was found that she had an extremely rare type of cancer known as carcinosarcoma, that occurred in less than 1-5% of all cases of this type of cancer. Due to the spread to her omentum, she was subsequently diagnosed with stage 4B Uterine Cancer, and her prognosis was very poor.

After recovering from her surgery she underwent chemotherapy and was cancer free for around 8 months before it returned in her lower pelvis around the area of her bladder they had removed some of it from previously. She was given around 3 months to a year to live and her oncologist at the time told her to get her affairs in order and not undergo more treatment. However, for our mom, that was not ever an option, and she was determined to fight to the end. So she switched her care from Minnesota Oncology to Mayo, and underwent the full range of chemotherapies they had to offer. During this time, there were some hopeful moments, and it shrunk a bit on one of the treatments but in the end nothing particularly worked and the tumor continued to grow and spread to other areas around her bladder. Due to this growth the tubes that connect her kidneys to her bladder were obstructed and she had to get nephrostomy tubes to allow for her kidneys to function.

Due to the long drives to Mayo, and the growing discomfort she had while sitting down as a result of the tumors, she decided to move her care closer for her final treatment option. During this treatment, a lot happened. She got a UTI due to the nephrostomy tubes; inhibiting her ability to use her bladder. A few weeks later, she was admitted for extreme fatigue that was a result of blood clots in her legs due to the tumor pressing on her veins. She was put on blood thinners but only a day later was readmitted, due to one of the tumors that had now invaded her liver bleeding as a result of the blood thinners. They did emergency surgery to stop the bleeding but the damage had been done, and she ended up passing on the 13th of May.

We're raising funds to help with funeral expenses, memorial costs, and living costs while we work to find our footing in this new reality. She raised us well as a single mother, and we'll strive to live a life that she would be proud of.