Mom is a Warrior against Breast Cancer

-Mom’s story-
Hi everyone! We’d love to share the story of our mother aka mami, Yoly Rueda. She was born in Riobamba, Ecuador, the eldest of seven children. She did not have much, but she started working at the age of 12 to make sure her mother and siblings would not go hungry or struggle so much. She met and married our father at the age of 24, came to the US and gave birth to three children (3 boys and what a handful we’ve been!) When we were born our mother made a decision to raise us and to be there by our side from our first steps, to our first words, to our first day of school.

We still remember mami dropping us off at school with our little backpacks and lunch bags in hand. Although she never graduated elementary school she made sure we went to school and took care of us so that we would not have to go through any of the same difficulties she and her siblings went through. Her entire life she has always been selfless, always giving to others first before taking care of herself. This was shown through her caring for her siblings, us, and anyone she ever met. However, in caring for others so much she forgot to take care of herself along the way.

-The News-
In September 2017 we received a phone call from our parents in a worried tone. It was the voice of our dad saying “we went to the Doctor and your mom has something she needs to share with you”. It seemed like something you see in the movies or TV except this was very real. “Hijos”, my mom said “tenemos que contarte que me diagnosticaron con un aggresivo cancer al seno y esta en la segunda etapa”. Our mother was diagnosed with an aggressive stage II breast cancer. We immediately were in denial and asked many questions: “How can this be? Are you sure? What did they say exactly?” We were shocked, panicked and saddened that our invincible and loving mother was hurting.

We spoke to the doctor who confirmed that she did in fact have an aggressive HER2-Positive stage II breast cancer. We all arrived home to see our mother with a worried look on her face. Almost immediately the tears rolled down our cheeks “Mami!” “Mis hijos,” she replied as we hugged. “Everything will be okay, we are here to get you through this and support you every step of the way,” we said.

We decided to get a second, third, fourth, and fifth opinion but we constantly heard the same thing “she has an aggressive stage II breast cancer and she will be needing chemotherapy, surgery, and potentially radiation.” Each time her cancer diagnosis was re-confirmed it felt as if we were getting the wind knocked out of us and we could not breathe. Nonetheless, we had to stay strong for the woman who raised us and sacrificed everything for us.

-Present Day-
Presently, we have been by mamis side through each and every appointment because it is our duty as sons. She recently finished her strongest chemotherapy sessions and thankfully her cancer tumor decreased in size! :) Nevertheless, Mami is currently undergoing various infusions and she will be undergoing surgery followed by radiation within the next two weeks.

Thanks to the treatments mami has gotten much better, however it all comes at a price. Medical bills have been piling up to pay for my mothers chemo treatment every 3 weeks as well as continuous hospital tests and visits. We all have worked extremely hard to help pay for the bills, taking on extra jobs including Uber/Lyft in order to help pay for my mother's bills. We are proud to say that we have been able to cover a portion of our mom’s medical bills, however, we still have more bills remaining and many more coming our way. We can honestly say that we are quite burnt out and could use all of the help that we can receive to help our mom fight the good fight and stay alive.

With that being said, we extend the invitation to those of you who would be willing to lend a helping hand to please donate to this GoFundMe page. Any amount helps and please know that you will be helping my mother and us continue to fight this fight against the disease that has taken the lives of many.

God willing our mother will be a testimony of a person who was able to overcome many obstacles including breast cancer and we will spread her story and inspire those dealing with the same thing because this is now our duty as well! Thank you for reading and making it this far in this story and our lives. <3

PLEASE SEE OUR IMPORTANT GO FUND ME/DONATION INFORMATION BELOW    

NOTES:
-If you would prefer to write a check, have cash, and rather not donate online that would be helpful

-If it’s a large amount you wish to donate please:  

Message us here on Go Fund Me to avoid any unnecessary Credit Card processing fees

Or contact Andy, Omar or John via phone.

(If you have any further questions and/or concerns feel free to reach out through the methods mentioned above.)

Thank you everyone for your continued love, support, and prayers.

Sincerely,

Juan, Omar, Andy, and John Rueda

P.S. If you are a women and have not had your routine breast exam please do so, if it runs in your family you may have a higher risk. If you are a man you should get examined as well because contrary to popular belief it affects men as well.

P.P.S. Keep spreading the love, light, and share our story so that others may be encouraged to fight and stay alive against this killer disease. Together we can make a HUGE impact for those dealing with breast cancer and any type of life-threatening disease!  <3