Support for Jean DeSante (Maria's mom)

From Maria:

Hi all!

First of all, thank you for all of your support over the last couple of months. I know information at times has been hard to come by, but for anyone who’s been through sudden crisis that is evolving, it’s extremely hard to clearly pass along information and updates in a timely manner. My hope is that this page will help fill that gap and I will do my best to keep it updated.

To start at the beginning, just 2 months ago my mom went to the ER with shortness of breath and several hours later was given the news that she had several masses in her body. After additional testing she was given a diagnosis of Stage 4 clear cell carcinoma that metastasized to her liver and multiple areas of her abdomen. Though the news was sudden and tough she was prepared to fight and we made a plan for treatment through chemotherapy and surgery.

After the initial diagnosis in mid October she had two additional hospital stays, one for an infection in her stomach and a second when her kidney and liver function started to diminish. As the start of chemo approached it became clear that her body was no longer strong enough for treatment. Her oncologist gave her two options: quantity or quality of life…and she chose quality and declined treatment for her cancer.

On November 25th, given a timeline of three to eight weeks left with us, my mom was discharged from the hospital and was accepted to inpatient hospice.

Though I’ve been told it can be common, hospice helped to stabilize her and she continues to fight to stay with us. On December 1st my moms hospice team let me know they were going to discharge her and I spent two weeks trying to find somewhere that could manage her level of care needing 24 hour supervision. We are very thankful to have found a place that she transitioned to yesterday, December 14. Though we were given a short timeline for how much time she had left, she continues to fight to stay with us.

Asking for monetary donations is/was never a place I wanted to be, however with how sudden this came upon us my mom and I did not have time to properly prepare for the costly expense that is required for her at this time. We appreciate any amount of support you are able to give whether it is encouragement or financial. I will do my best to keep this page updated on her progress and thank you so very much for your consideration.