Update- September 26th, 2023

This morning at 1:45AM, our mother was finally able to rest and be pain-free from her long battle with cancer.

Our mom expressed a new pain that became worse and worse in a span of 3 weeks before it became so unbearable that she finally went in to the ER on September 14th to get it checked out. They said she had pneumonia, treated her there for three days, and then sent her home with antibiotics. She only lasted at home for two days before she had to go back to the hospital on September 20th because she was experiencing excruciating pain and breathlessness again. We didn’t know that this would be the last trip to the hospital she would make.

When she was admitted, she had to be placed on nasal cannulas (oxygen tubes in her nose) to help her breathe but, each day that passed, her breathlessness and pain became worse. The morphine she was on caused her to sleep most of the time and when she was awake she would constantly say how she didn’t want to go through this pain anymore. Through scans they saw that my mom had fluid surrounding her lungs which added to her difficulty breathing, so on Friday the 22nd they drained the fluid from her right lung. She seemed to breathe a little easier for that day, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Her breathlessness returned the next day- her oxygen tubes turned into an oxygen mask, the morphine continued, and her yearn for the pain to end became more persistent. Then, I received a call from the doctor.

The doctor informed me of my mother’s worsening condition. After looking at her history, they determined that the cancer in my mom’s lungs had developed into necrosis and formed holes in her lungs, which was why she had developed pneumonia. The pneumonia couldn’t go away unless the cancer went away, and considering there was no cure for her cancer…there wasn’t anything more they could do. She was in pain. At that point, the only thing keeping her breathing was the oxygen mask, which was causing her pain too. Even then, her oxygen levels were declining. Therefore, my family had to make a tough choice- discuss comfort care.

During my mom’s time here on earth she told us that she never wanted to find herself in the hospital all tubed up and hooked to machines. She was scared of being in the hospital and hoped that her end would be painless and peaceful. If it wasn’t, she wanted us to make sure it was, and we wanted to do anything we could to honor her wishes. So, that’s what we did. It was the toughest choice we ever had to make as a family and will ever have had to make…

No words can describe these waves of emptiness that roll in when I realize this isn’t just a nightmare- that when I wake up, she really isn’t here anymore. That I no longer will have my daily calls with her to check-in on her health, ask for her recipes, update her on my day of cool things I did at work, or just make her laugh. No more catching up on Master Chef or Hell’s Kitchen and talking about our wish to try Chef Ramsey’s beef Wellington one day. The house feels so much quieter without her here and it’s only been a day.

Then these waves settle and what brings me comfort is knowing that she is no longer in pain. She fought this cancer for nearly 13 years and it was finally time for her to rest and be set free in the place she always wanted to visit- Isla Mujeres in Cancun.

We hope that you can help us with this process with your donations. Money would go towards funeral costs, costs for our family to go to Isla Mujeres to spread her ashes, and immediate living expenses as we navigate through this difficult period of grief and adjustment. Your support whether big or small will go a long way during this tough time. Thank you

Here's a video we found on my mom's phone. She planned on posting it to share with the world. This was a few days before her health rapidly declined. I'll leave this here for her

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November 2022

Hi, my name is Karen Hernandez. I'm here to ask you, reading this, to help me raise funds to help my mother during her fight against a rare cancer.

Ten years ago, I was treated for a rare cancer, Osteosarcoma, a bone cancer. During that time, my parents were going through a rough time, were moving homes, had three other children to take care of, and on top of that, they still had to find the time to take care of me at the Oakland Children's Hospital. But they did it. Nearly every day, my mom made it her priority to make me freshly squeezed juices and drive all the way to Oakland to drop them off. Rain or shine, she was always there.

My back and forth trips to the hospital for chemo went on for about a year. Little did we know that while my health was improving, my mom's health was declining. A month after being cancer-free, my mom was diagnosed with cancer in her sinus. It was her turn to need the support. She was treated with raditation and eventually was told she was cancer-free...so we thought.

In the end of 2019 she was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcenoma- a rare cancer that had spread from her original cancer to her lungs and liver...and because of its rarity, has no treatment options. So all she can do is wait for trials. So far, she's gone through two unsuccessful trials, and no other trials have been available for months.

My mom used to be a Zumba freak. She loves to dance, dance, dance, oh, and cook! But since her decline in health as time has passed, she's no longer been able to do the things she loves. Her cough has become so bad that she sometimes can't breathe. Her appetite has been so low that she's lost over 25 pounds. Each day she feels more and more pain that it hurts to do regular activities, and it hurts me to see her this way, as it would break any daughter to see her mother that way. So I want to find anything possible to help my mom, and that's why I am doing this fundraiser.

Since no medical treatments have been available for my mom, I have turned my research to holistic healing/ Naturopathic treatment. There are options I have found for my mom. Of course, non are cheap.

One of the options is bringing mom to the Gerson Therapy Clinic in Tijuana that educates patients on how to treat their cancer at home. There have been incredible stories of people being healed through this method that I've read about since 2020. This clinic houses patients and a guest for two weeks and includes meals that are part of their program. The cost for the two-week stay is $11,000. I estimate flights there about be $400 round trip for the both of us. The clinic also has tools that need to be purchased so patients can continue treatment at home, including a juicer for about $2,500. The rest of the money I am hoping to raise is to help buy groceries and organic produce for my mom after treatment, and possibly to pay someone certified in the Gerson Therapy to help my mom at home.

Another option is the Cancer Center for Healing in Irvine, CA. Here, they use Ozone Therapy, Hyperbaric Oxygen, IV Therapy Treatments, Acupuncture, Red Light Therapy, and much much more. The list is extensive and each treatment plan is made specifically for each patient. You can see the entire list and read more about this location here. So far I know that the consultation is $300. I'd like to raise enough money to get her started on one of the treatments soon after.

Funds would also go towards other treatment options, groceries, and other ways to help her and my parents during these difficult times. So I thank anyone who has read this far and thank you for any donation amount. You can read about the treatment centers by clinking the links below.

Warmly,

Karen Hernandez

Gerson Therapy Approved Juicer- Pure Juicer

Read about the Cancer Center for Healing

Read About the Gerson Clinic

Read a Success Story from The Gerson Therapy

Read another Success Story from The Gerson Therapy