Hi friends, family, strangers. My name is Alex, and this year my family has been devastated. My father, Phil was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic bladder cancer in January of 2024. After a hard fought year of chemo, immunotherapy and radiation, we received heart breaking news that the cancer had aggressively spread to his brain. Radiation was started, but after the second session, he had a profound reaction and lost function of the right side of his body. My dad passed on January, 8, 2025 in the loving presence of his family, in the light of the sun, and in the comfort of his home.

My mom, Lorrie, never left his side. My dad’s fight took a tremendous toll on her, and on all of us. She poured herself into caring for the entire family before, during and after his death. In the second half of January, she got sick. Flu and pneumonia ravaged her body and she was hospitalized with high oxygen requirements.

At the time of this writing, she is sleeping in the hospital bed next to me, receiving 9L of high flow, humidified oxygen. We’ve been here for two days. She’s been a trooper. 36 hours were spent in the ER. She has a paralyzing fear of needles. Her life, autonomy, and ability to walk to the bathroom on her own have all been disrupted. In the midst of mourning the loss of her husband, she has had every bit of normalcy ripped from her when she needs it the most. When the whole family needs normalcy the most. We haven’t picked up dad’s ashes yet, and already our world has begun to burn again.

The goal of this gofundme is to give her a bit of comfort and security. The hospital bills haven’t arrived yet for my dad’s care and already new bills will be coming for my mom’s hospitalization. Celebration of life arrangements haven’t been made yet for my dad. All of the proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards paying medical bills and end of life expenses for my dad first. If there is anything left over, it will all go towards paying mom’s mortgage for as long as possible. I would love for home expenses to be removed as a consideration for her for a few months as she starts her recovery.

This is out of character for me or us to ask for help, and my mom surely wouldn’t. She told me during my dad’s passing that she has been praying for abundance, and that she got it with all the support of her family and friends during dad’s passing. She was entering this next chapter of life with gratitude and optimism that things were going to be ok. My hope is that things still can be ok.