Lei Maloy

Well in 2012 my mother, Lei started to become very sick. She went to doctor after doctor and they all gave her different anti-biotics to try and fight off her unexplained illness that had began to drag out for months. She drastically lost weight, was extremely fatigued for what seemed like no reason at all, and slowly developed a cough that only worsened. On Friday February 15th, 2013 at the age of 46 my mother, was diagnosed with advanced stage 4 colon cancer. Her cancer had metastasized to several other organs in her body and some of her organs were so covered and had swelled so much that they were pushing against her lungs causing the horrible cough. She spent nearly 2 weeks in the hospital after the initial diagnoses. While there she underwent several operations and started her first 48 hour straight chemotherapy treatment. There were a several scary nights in the beginning... A few close calls, a crash course in chemo education, and just an over whelming couple of weeks. With the first treatment came the first set of risks. She could not touch ANYTHING that was cold or would take the chance of suffering from permanent numbness in her hands and feet... And that did happen. She had to wear gloves just to reach into the fridge or open her open the car door on a cold day. As a result of the chemo, her abdominal cavity filled with fluid that would have to be manually drained with a needle straight into her stomach once a week for several months. The condition eventually led to another surgery to place a catheter so that we were able to drain the fluid from home. One small infection can easily become fatal with her condition, so she has had many hospital stays. She has had half a dozen surgeries, numerous hospital stays, and takes dozens of medications daily. My mom has been in the fight of her life for over TWO YEARS. Between illness, countless appointments, treatment, and everything else she still works and is able to keep her health insurance. But medical bills and daily living are still very overwhelming for she and my dad. We have started this to not only share her story but also have the chance to raise some money to be able to put a dent in the mountain of daily treatment bills. Insurance only covers a portion of her treatment that is now over a million dollars. Thank you so much for taking a moment to read just a small bit of her story! My mom is the strongest person I know, and has gone through hell in the past 2 years, but she is still fighting. She will forever be my greatest inspiration!!!