In Memory of Zehra Torbic Miljkovic

Too many of us know firsthand what it is like to be with a loved one as they battle cancer. It is a ceaseless disease requiring an excruciating battle to recover from.

 

For those of you who may not know, this is the battle my mother has been in since November of 2021. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Bile Duct cancer in November of 2021.

 

This week, we discovered that it has now spread to her lungs.

 

My mom is my best friend. Anyone that knows her, knows just how big and pure her heart is. She is the kind of person that will welcome you with open arms and treat you like family. She is the most selfless & generous person I know. I have never met someone like her. She has always been my biggest supporter and has been the person that I go to for everything. She is the kind of mom that treats my friends like her own kids. Not only is my mom the best person I know, but she is also the strongest person I know. Throughout her cancer journey, she has never asked for help. She has always put on a smile and kept fighting. If you know my mom, you know just how amazing she is.

 

As I am writing this, Zehra is lying in the ICU after receiving emergency treatment for her second stroke in less than two weeks. This whole process has been deeply painful for her, and she has thus far chosen to keep her battles private, not wanting to burden extended family and friends. However, due to the current elevated state of her condition, we have realized that, despite our best efforts, we cannot do everything that is required to help my mom alone. It is with this knowledge that we are now asking for our community's support.

 

 

 

 

The Fight Thus Far

 

Beginning in fall 2021, Zehra began experiencing debilitating and inexplicable back pain. From November to December, she had several tests and screenings to figure out what was happening, to no avail.

 

It wasn’t until two days before Christmas, after suffering a severe stroke and a minor heart attack, that we learned that she had Stage 4 bile duct cancer.

 

She has faced multiple complications since then, particularly recently, that have caused her to visit the ER several times just over the past month and are preventing her from continuing chemotherapy.

 

One of these complications is recurrent stroke, which has impacted her ability to receive chemotherapy and made her body's left side unusable. Cancer patients are naturally at increased risk of stroke because cancer cells, as they shed, stick to one another and thicken the blood, causing clots to form.

 

However, for a patient prone to internal bleeding, like Zehra, the blood thinners usually prescribed to protect against stroke render themselves useless and, according to the doctor, even put her at risk of a brain hemorrhage.

 

 

 

 

 

How to Support

With your help, we can provide Zehra with access to...

 

It is pure luck that her family was with her during the first, second, and third strokes because it meant the difference between life and death. However, because of the necessity of maintaining health insurance for her chemotherapy and other treatment, our family cannot be with her to the extent now required because of her stroke history.

 

Your help will ease the financial burden of providing in-home care during the day, while we are at work. Stroke symptoms can be easily missed unless you are trained to look out for them; a certified professional is necessary to monitor these symptoms, especially given my mom’s recent history of stroke.

 

Because of the severity of her most recent stroke, Zehra has lost functionality of the left side of her body and will be wheelchair-bound upon discharge from the hospital. Worse yet, she cannot eat because she cannot swallow. Funds will thus be used to obtain continued and better physical therapy treatment to improve her quality of life.

 

We have taken steps to receive treatment at an out-of-state institution, due to the spread of her cancer, and the limited success of current chemotherapy treatment in Boise, Idaho. We have arranged for Zehra to be seen by a bile duct cancer specialist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Your help will provide my mom the ability to travel to and stay in Houston to receive top-notch cancer treatment and be part of new research studies to increase her possibility of survival.

 

My mom’s wish is to continue fighting cancer. We will do everything possible to honor that wish and believe she deserves more tailored treatment and better care in order to continue fighting.

 

Finally, my dad has been with my mom through it all over the past six months. He has spent many sleepless nights at the hospital and exhausted his FMLA for the year. While financial support cannot ease his pain, it can reduce the burden he has shouldered.

 

 

No one deserves cancer. No one deserves to watch a loved one suffer at the unrelenting hands of cancer. We hope that you will consider supporting Zehra in her cancer journey.