On July 10th, 2023, I called my mother to check in about a recent biopsy she had. The results were not good. A few months prior, a medical checkup revealed a small mass on her left lung. After putting herself in 5k of debt for the biopsy, the results came back that her small mass is a cancerous tumor. She has been diagnosed with a Stage 1a Typical Bronchial Carcinoid roughly 8mm in size in her left lung. The diagnosis comes with a medical and surgical treatment plan to shrink the tumor with medication over the next few months and promptly have it removed. The goal is to have it removed as soon as possible-- but it comes with a steep medical bill. My mother is currently uninsured and was lucky enough to work with a social worker at her hospital which has granted her a reduced cost for her procedures. Her out-of-pocket cost for the anesthesiologist and surgery amounts to 8,000$ in addition to the twice-daily Sandostatin doses (180$ weekly)

My mother raised me and my two siblings as a single parent throughout our entire adolescence. To this day, she continuously supports us in times of need, regardless of her current situation. I have seen my mother give to strangers on the street; I have seen my mother give to friends; I have seen my mother give to coworkers; I have seen my mother share her home with refugees; I have seen my mother give away our groceries; Rarely have I seen my mother ask for help.

I am here to ask for help in support of my mother. She is 53 years old and has much left to give to this world and our communities.

A few thoughts and words from my mom, who is shy and afraid of speaking from her heart:

Where do I even begin? I’ve tried to be a positive person and have tried to find ways to push through or push ahead when things get hard but these last few years have been especially hard to do that. I have had 4 In situ carcinomas over the last 10 years. I had changed my habits, diet, and ways of healing to try to combat the reoccurrence of it. You know, you read about all-natural ways to heal yourself. I believe it completely but am struggling with my newest diagnosis. I now have a Bronchial Carcinoid in my left lung. My first thought is that it is impossible because I have never smoked( you always think of cancer in the lung is from that) but that is not the case. This particular type of cancer is not directly related to or affected by smoking. Of the types of lung cancer a person can get, it also happens to be the lesser of the evils. It is currently 1mm larger than it was when I was first diagnosed. Now at 8mm. My goal is to get this thing out of me by mid-Sept. I don’t have insurance anymore but have spoken to the social worker at the hospital. I can’t explain exactly how I feel because my emotions are swirling around. Disbelief is one of the biggest. I don’t eat crazy bad, I take vitamins, I don’t drink or smoke, don’t do drugs…..all of the things that we associate with cancer. I feel betrayed but I can’t pinpoint by what exactly. My body, what I’ve been told about taking care of myself. I feel like it’s been for nothing, all the reading I’ve done on my health. I struggle with the “why me?” thing but then I think “Why not me?”. I’m all over the place.

I’ve made so many mistakes in my life and now I struggle more with feeling like my time to make amends is being stolen from me. I have so much to make up for. I have so much I want to do. I feel lost. Like I’m watching someone else’s life right now on TV. I want to change the channel but I can’t. This sucks.

Please consider donating to our fund if you have the capabilities to do so. It would mean the world to us.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Shalyn Welch and Michele Farah