We are fundraising for our mother, Maria Bento who was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer and is currently being treated at Toronto General Hospital in Canada. Maria has been a primary school Spanish teacher and private tutor for children in Antigua and Barbuda for the past 20 years. Maria is also a Director at the Halo Foundation, an Antiguan charity organization dedicated to improving the conditions, education, and well-being of the vulnerable in Antigua and throughout the Caribbean. She is the strongest woman we know, and anybody who knows her knows how selfless and giving she is. She has handled everything from her diagnosis to surgery recovery in good spirits and her classic, spicy sense of humour. Our mother has always been a rock to so many people, and we are hoping to reach out to the community to be the same in turn.

In March 2023, Maria was rushed into emergency surgery in Antigua after an ulcer in her stomach had burst. Follow up scans showed something concerning in her colon, which was later diagnosed as stage 2 colon cancer.

We made the difficult decision as a family to move Maria’s medical treatment from Antigua to Canada to get the support from us, her daughters, who both live in Toronto and for the specialized care from experts in the field, despite the ongoing uncertainty of insurance coverage.

The final diagnosis was a growing tumor in her colon causing significant internal blockage with spreading into her ovaries and uterus. The treatment plan included 6 months of chemotherapy and 5 weeks of radiation (totalling $75,000 CAD) which Maria completed from August 2023 to March 2024, and surgery to remove the tumor (estimated $116,000 CAD). Unfortunately, the chemo and radiation did little to shrink the tumor.

The 11 hour surgery took place on July 13th, and Maria is currently recovering in Toronto General Hospital. The surgery was done robotically and involved cutting the tumor out of the colon and rejoining the colon, and the removal of her ovaries and part of the uterus. Complications arose in surgery from excessive scar tissue and organ removal from the spreading of the cancer. This increased the 4 day expected hospital stay to 26 days (and counting) in order to continue to be monitored and receive the right care. At $3,600 CAD per day for an international patient, the growing medical bills seem insurmountable. This pushes the initial $116,000 CAD estimation to $210,000 CAD, and totals $285,000 CAD with radiation and chemo included. The costs outlined above do not include future appointments, follow ups, ileostomy bag surgery, and additional possible complications.

Maria is currently still recovering at the hospital with complications involving a leak at the colon rejoining site. She has the constant support of us, her daughters, and our father who retired last year.

Your financial support will help to cover the cost of her medical expenses to date, including chemo, radiation, surgery, and in-hospital recovery.

If you’ve reached this far in our story, thank you so much for taking the time to listen. We are eternally grateful for any help offered and would love to take this burden off of our parents however possible as our mom continues slowly on her road to recovery. After fighting colon cancer for a year and a half, she is excited to get back to her students, beat her friends at Scrabble, and feel well enough to visit her mom abroad ❤️