Hello friends, family, colleagues and strangers!

 

Never in a million years did I think this would be something I'd be writing one day.

May 18, 2022, is when I took my mom to the hospital after five days of excruciating headaches, nausea, vomiting, loss of smell and taste, as well as the inability to hold any food down. The possibility of COVID-19, of course, crossed our minds, but all tests at home were negative.

Once arriving at the hospital, they immediately took a chest X-Ray due to her having a complaint about chest pain (hey, a heart attack would have made more sense at this point), and they performed a CT scan on her brain due to her very rarely experiencing headaches and the severity of what she has been feeling.

After anxiously waiting, the Doctor came in and told us he found a tumor on the right parietal lobe of her brain as well as a mass in her chest. They transferred us to UCSF early the next morning. From there, my Aunt and I drove to UCSF and began the process of figuring out what is the next move. At this point, we had no proof it was cancerous, but of course, with Joy's intuition, she knew.

On May 23rd, she went for a right parietal craniotomy to remove the mass. The surgery was flawless, and she was out of ICU in less than 24 hours (what an overachiever).

Unfortunately, that is when we were told that this mass was cancerous. The next few days were a blur of; different doctors visiting her, pain, physical therapy, and some tears. After being cleared to go home and heal from her brain surgery, we returned home on May 26th.

Since then, our primary focus has been on making her comfortable after surgery and getting her to heal in the best way possible. Since we've hit the 2-week mark of post-op, it has become time to start planning the next moves for treatment. Though we had all of the surgery, doctor's visits and diagnosis here at UCSF, they will not continue covering her treatment plan for cancer. It is stage 4 Bronchogenic Adenocarcinoma that has metastasized to her brain and lymph nodes. The oncologist we met with told us that without treatment and radiation, she will not make it more than three months. We have gone over the treatment plan with an Oncologist; they believe the best course of action would be; an aggressive form of Chemotherapy, Radiation of the brain and further testing will give her the best QUALITY while still giving us more time with her. The costs for all of these treatments are astronomical and we are asking anyone to help in any shape or form you can! All of the donations are going to be used to pay for all of the cancer treatments she is going to need.

Prayers, donations, sharing this page, coming to visit, sending flowers, any and ALL is such a blessing, and we are grateful to have people in our lives that have given us all the love and support thus far.

I speak for myself, but my mom is my best friend in the entire world. I have been so blessed to become so close to her and experience the wisdom she has put upon me. She has affected so many people's lives for the better and she wont let this cancer win without a fair fight!

 

PLEASE reach out to me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!