Linda Ness Beating all odds

Hello, my name is Michelle DeJesus, I am the daughter of Linda Ness. This go fund me is on behalf of her. My mother is a strong women and she is trying to beat the odds one more time.

My mom has touched everyone’s life that she meets. She truly cares for everyone. Here is her story:

My mom not only bared 6 children and raised 5 little kids on her own; as our father is a retired veteran. She has also acted like a mother to many of our friends. She would take anyone into our home that needed a place to stay. Whether it be my parents coworkers, our friends or family.

As we grew up she instilled in her children many virtues. Showing us all how to be independent, strong, kind hearted people. She worked night shifts so she could be with her kids. She wanted to give us the world. Little did she know that her world would change 15 years ago.

My mom started showing signs of a rare skin disease. We feel like she has been to 100s of doctors. But, the doctors could not pin point exactly what it was (they’re still not 100% sure). She was ”diagnosed” with scleroderma morphea profunda. Her skin started hardening from the outside in, which caused her to be on multiple medicines; including prednisone. Which overall caused her bone density to decrease. The doctors stated if she stopped taking it, she would die. Not only that, she has trouble walking and uses a scooter to get around most places. My mom can barely pick up anything that is over 5 lbs because of the loss of bone density. Unfortunately, she has not been able to hold her 8 grandchildren or play with them like she used to with us. But, she’s a trooper and keeps pushing on.

Fast forward a few years to 2017, my mother broke her back, not once but three times. The prednisone she has to be on caused her to break her back in several places. She has had three different surgeries, trying to fuse her spine back together. Unfortunately, both did not take and her bones are still deteriorating. She is still in lots of pain and has to see a chiropractor almost every week to help her ease the pain for a few days. But, once again, she is a trooper and pushed on.

Now, that we thought she couldn’t be any other statistic, God had other plans. A few weeks back, she went into the emergency room with a excruciating pain in her throat. Come to find out, she had a mass in her throat that was causing the pain. This mass turned out to be stage 3 Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cancer. This is a rare throat cancer that only 2% of people get and is not cause by HPV. Now, my mom has never smoked and doesn’t drink (only on special occasions), which usually causes this cancer. She is going to need to have surgery to remove the cancer, chemo will not work.

Her surgery is set right now for August 30th. It is going to be a 12-14 hour surgery. And it is very extensive. I will spare you the details, but she will have to have a trachea and feeding tube after the surgery is done. And can take up to 5 months with both…She will also need a speech therapist to help her learn to talk again. Then….once that is all done, the surgeons will then start to worry about the brain tumor that she has.

Her surgery, hospital stay and recovery are going to cost thousands of dollars. If you are able to help with any little donation, it is truly appreciated. If you want updates on her condition and recovery, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you all for the thoughts, prayers, donations and warm wishes.