Please Help Support our mom, Diane Kennedy's fight

Powerful, motivated, problem solver, gentle, nurturing, selfless, giver to all. These are just some of the words that come to mind when describing my best friend. My rock, my role model. My mom (Ma Dukes), the woman who taught me to always "dance" even on the rainiest of days and to never fear the lightning because even that has the brightest of light in the end.

My name is Brian. I'm the youngest of 3 children that Diane Kennedy has. I'm the "baby." I'm sure if you know my mother, you've heard many, many stories about me lol. Let's just say that when my mother and father married 41 years ago, they probably never expected to have my wildly fabulous little self just 3 years after that lol. From the moment the emergency department restarted both my mother and my hearts shortly after she birthed me, I have been keeping her on her toes ever since. I keep Dukes young. My mother and I have a relationship that is truly a friendship more than anything, and right now my best friend needs some help.

On April 18th, my family had their entire world turned upside down when we learned that my mother had unknown growths on her lung and potentially her heart. None of us were prepared to hear this, and we had to wait until April 28th to get the official results of the scans.

Those results were:

Infrehilar lung mass with bulky left hilar , subcarinal right paratracheal and right lymphadenopathy. Primary lung neoplasm with metasticlymphadenopathy cancer cells from primary tumor.

Physicians offered 2 options: fight aggressively with chemo or let things take a natural approach and ride the diagnosis out without a fight. If she chose not to fight, the doctors said she had about 4-6 months left due to the aggressive state the cancer is in. My mother is one of the strongest people that I know, so she is choosing to fight until she has no fight left.

My mom is 73 and up until today was still working. Doctors have now ordered her to stop working. This is my mom's biggest fear, losing everything that she's worked her entire life for because of becoming ill. Which is why I have created this GoFundMe now for my parents. They have worked too hard to have things end like this.

If you know "Ma Dukes," you know that she has raised entire neighborhoods of children through my siblings and my life. She's been there for all of us in times of need, and it breaks my heart to now have to ask for help to be there in her time of need. The bills will continue to come in for my father and her, and we are praying that any donations here allow them to stay afloat and focus on the most important thing right now, fighting this cancer.

If you know my mother, you know how much she loves a good summer concert. I will be planning a huge cookout-style live music fundraiser for her, which I will announce soon. However, in the meantime, we are praying this will help lighten any financial burdens in my mom's time of need. Thank you all for the love and support. It means more to my family than we could ever put into words.

Love,

Michelle, Chad, Brian & Bob