On December 3rd my mother, Karla, was admitted into the hospital with what the doctors had orginally thought were kidney stones. After running tests for pain she was experiencing, our family was told that it appeared she had lung cancer that had spread to her spine. Fast forward about a week - she was told that her biopsy results came back and that it wasn't lung cancer, my family was incredibly thankful. Instead, it showed that she has breast cancer. Again, we were relieved. From what any of us had ever known, there is a cure for breast cancer.

After meeting with her oncologist this past Monday, we found out that my mom has Stage IV Triple Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer. The cancer has spread to multiple parts of the body, including; her lungs, spine, multiple bones in her back, collar bone, and femur. When it comes to breast cancer, this is pretty much the worst of the worst. There is no cure or long-lasting treatment for Stage IV TNBC and the cancer itself is extremely aggressive. This means, my mom will be on treatment for this cancer for the rest of her life.

This coming week she will be getting a port a cath put in so she can start chemotherapy as soon as possible. Her oncologist is considering radiation along with that due to a large tumor on her left femur as well as starting immunotherapy. She has had, and will continue to have, appointments for CT scans, x-rays, and MRI's to ensure that they find any new growths immediately and to control those already there. She also has appointments with different physicians and specialists for things like bone scans and regular healthcare.

My dad is continuing to work as much as possible, because although cancer is life-changing, life doesn't just stop. They still have bills to pay and although he does have FMLA leave at work, it doesn't reimburse the income that he misses out on when he's not there. On top of that, it would be nice for my parents to be able to do things together while they can.  My mom always wanted to go on a cruise to Alaska, take my dad to New York, and see the excitement in her grandchildren at Disneyland. But realistically, those probably won't happen. However, it would be nice for my parents to be able to go to the ocean if they wanted one weekend together or for my dad to not have to stress about taking the time off of work so he can be with my mom and support her during chemo or other appointments.

Ultimately, the money that is raised will be used to help ease the financial burden that my mom and dad will experience during this battle. Whether that be to help supplement income, use to spend time together, or to help with any of the costs for after-death arrangements they make. This will allow them the opportunity to support one another and hopefully spend some quality time together. Being able to help my parents like this would be one of the greatest gifts and I would be forever thankful.