I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends!

+++++UPDATED JULY 24, 2023+++++

Hello Team,

I'm sure most of you have heard that our Dearest Gloria has left us. She passed away at home in her room with Julia by her side. She took her last breaths around 11 am Friday, July 21, 2023. She was surrounded by family and supported by love both near and far.

I know that she did not have the strength to talk to every single one of you before then. I know that she wanted to. I know she was aware of her voice messages and they were made available for her to hear. She did look at all the pictures sent, even if they all didn't make it on the final "shield of love" photo arrangement I made. The shield was a large heart shape with an arm strap so she could "wear" it during the transport from the hospital back home to get her back safely to her loved ones at home. One of the ever-observant ambulance drivers asked, "where are you on this board?", and only then did I realize I hadn't printed any photos of me. Just those who had replied to my email with photos! Again, my apologies for those photos that didn't make it on the board. I really just ran out of time. Know she did see them all and I had a slide show on the computer playing Sunday night when I spent the night at the hospital with her!! She felt the love!

Upon her arrival back home Monday evening there were at least 20 friends and family members to give her hugs, smiles, and words of love and encouragement. She held the shield the entire time. We got to visit with her over the next few days until she was so very tired.

The flowers and plants surrounded the room and a beautiful fragrance filled the air. It was a sight to behold and brought such a smile to her face and a warmth to her heart. Thank you so much for sending flowers. I have a short video of the room with the flowers, if you didn't get the email you can text me.

Julia is at home with family for now. Please continue to reach out to her and send your support and love. I can imagine how hard this is for her, but I will never really know. Thankfully there are so many people around her to support her on this journey and make sure she will be ok. Her Uncle Leo will be by her side from this day forward.

We plan to have a memorial service at her home on September 2, 2023.

We will make more information about this available at a later date.

I want to thank everyone for your support during this journey. It was truly amazing to see the love for Gloria span across the globe and what a great feeling it was to provide support to her and Julia during this difficult time. I couldn't have done it without all of you. I really thank each of you. Gloria was so many great things to so many different people. It was a pleasure getting to know all of you and getting to know some of you better than I did. I will cherish all that you have shared with me. I will hold dear all the stories I heard about Gloria and your favorite experiences with her. I have come to love her in all the ways you do.

Thank you for that.

My next email will probably be the last email. It will be letting you know about the memorial service.

I'm really gonna miss her guys. I wish I could stop crying. I just want one day without shedding a tear. I think I'll get there. In time.

Thank you. Thank you. And thank you again.

Team Leader Out

Nina

310-514-6493

*****UPDATED JULY 13 2023*****

Hello Team,

My apologies for the delay in getting back to you all. It has been the most difficult few weeks. Gloria is not doing well right now and we really need your thoughts and prayers and meditations and healing energy.

So let me back up to mid June...I think we left off with her trying to get to Julia's graduation.....

Just before graduation.....

Katie did a great job managing her food and helped create a low salt diet as suggested.

Turns out due to her inability to eat a whole meal, her salt was too low and she was hospitalized for the second time.

She was in the hospital until Julia's graduation and she was able to make it and witness her graduate. It truly brought joy to her heart.

After Gloria's 2nd hospitalization she received her third dose of medication on the 22nd of June. She was losing a lot of weight each week but we did the paracenteses on a weekly schedule and that did help regulate her eating. The problem was the fluid was filling faster and faster each week providing less opportunities for feeling hungry. We switched to high protein and high calorie diet. Gloria was doing good.

Her next treatment was set for July 6th and a cat scan would reveal the state of the cancer. Whether or not the cancer has spread would be revealed.

Unfortunately, after the paracenteses on June 26th Gloria took a laxative that caused major dehydration and the start of many days of not eating, which led to a 3rd hospitalization.

I rushed her to the hospital on Thursday, June 28 in pretty bad shape. Her fragile state permitted an ambulance ride to Beverly Hospital. They would not take us to USC.

On that Friday, June 30th she was placed in the ICU. And at midnight, her insurance was "cut off" with no COBRA in place!!!

On Monday July 3rd the hospital caught on and wanted to kick us out. On Wednesday July 6 they discharged her from the ICU and asked me to take her home in my car. She couldn't sit up. She can't eat. She can't use the bathroom. They literally said goodbye and good luck. I told them we were not leaving until the insurance kicked in, then we were out of that hellhole. Friday July 7th, I fought on the phone for 12 hours and got her insurance reinstated. At that point Beverly refused to let her go, saying she was not in good shape, they refused to transfer for a total of 12 days. I said there is no way she is staying here another day.

I literally broke her out of the hospital in a gown and stole a blanket and strapped her into a hired ambulance I had to pay for myself. I had to sign her AMA because all of a sudden, they wanted to treat her. They did last minutes tests against her will while protesting while I left to get my own wheelchair because they wouldn't get her out nor let them in. It was a challenging experience.

We finally arrived at USC Keck Verdugo Hills because her doctor at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center doesn't have an ER. That was this Monday. Our goal was to transfer her to USC Norris, where she wanted to be with Dr. Hanna.

Tuesday morning, they transferred her. Finally, all our dreams came true. Happiness. Relief. Praise to the INSURANCE GODS.

Wednesday, they say she is malnourished (this is new), she has stage 3 kidney failure (this is new) as she was tested at our 6/22 appointment, and now is constipated and has days' worth of blockage, and needs her paracenteses. Her eyes are yellow, she has lost more weight. Currently, she is 67 kilos. They wanted to know who was responsible for her mistreatment! I said, Dr. Albouidani at Beverly Hospital in Montebello.

Today they added a GI and have done lots of tests and treatments to try to restore her body to where it was two weeks ago. She currently is weak and can't move very well. She does look better and seems to be stronger.

I am going to meet with doctors tomorrow at 8am. We are praying for a miracle. Once we talk with the doctors and Julia I can let you know where we are at.

During all this time I have been fighting for Gloria with daily rotations of doctors, nurses, social workers, bill collectors, insurance people, and administrators. I am also trying to get her affairs in order, pay her bills, pay her rent, and get a will and trust in order while her mind is sharp. Find travel notaries and create her advanced medical directive. This was no small task.

I know she's running out of money. She no longer has any income. I don't know when or if disability will kick in.

Yes, I have applied for Medi-Cal.

Yes, we have COBRA now.

I am applying for disability for her

I am trying to get widow's benefits reinstated

Yes, I know probate is awful

Yes, I know they won't sign trust if she is not of sound mind

I've been busy. So sorry if I haven't responded or updated in a bit.

Sigh.

I'm worried. I'll let you know what the doctors say as soon as I can.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

If you want to email me photos of your faces, I want to make a love board for her room. I have been taping up pictures to the wall to inspire her. Since we have been at three hospitals in the past week, I want to make a small photo board of those who love her so she can see you. Email me one or two to be printed ASAP. Like now. Or mail them to her house with a card.

I've spent 14 hour days at the hospitals and today is my 4th day in a row. I need to be up at 6am so I can be there before the doctors.

So, I gotta go.

Now that most of her affairs are in order, I should have time to update more frequently. I'm hoping to wrap up the trust tomorrow.

I'm sure you have questions. Please email me questions, and pictures. I'm sure you all have similar questions. I'll try to get more details after I read all your questions.

i tried to be quick. I'm sorry. This is hard. I'm probably not doing this right. I don't have a lot of answers right now. But I'm worried people. I appreciate all your support. Really. So does Gloria.

If you can, Jeff has the GoFundMe link on his Facebook page. No pressure. I'm sorry to have to ask. Thank you, please forgive me. Love to you all.

Let the sun shine in. Let the sun shine in. Let the sun, shine in.

Team leader out.

Nina

310-514-6493

Gloria's view of graduation

A Team member donated this sign!

Gloria at Redondo Beach Pier after 2nd hospitalization

Hi,

My name is Nina, and I am writing today on behalf of Gloria and Julia Budano. At the end of March Gloria was very weak and had lost a lot of weight. After being admitted to the hospital for about a week stay, Gloria received the diagnosis of Stage 2 Cancer in her liver. We were told she is going to need a transplant to live. With her health in poor condition, she is unable to continue working at this time. That is my motivation for starting this fundraising campaign. I would like to help Gloria by raising money for her rent for the next four months and to pay off the $7,350 annual medical deductible maximum and any other medical bills we are quickly accumulating.

Last month we began our journey at Keck USC Hospital where Gloria is seeking treatment for the cancer and acceptance into the liver transplant program. So far we have completed lots of blood work, some physical therapy, and had the CT scan with contrast to tell us if the cancer has spread. We are still waiting for the results. This week we meet the Interventional Radiation team and the Oncologist they have added to the team. Next week is more testing of the GI tract with endo/colonoscopies. Once these two weeks of testing and meetings are done, the team meets and reviews all of the tests. Later this month, we meet with the head of the transplant department at USC and they let us know where we are at.

I want to say that the care and attention we are receiving at USC is top notch and we feel good about the course things are running. Things are happening really fast and it's good to know we are moving towards healing, strength, and recovery.

That, in short, is where we are currently at. I have started a GoFundMe in hopes to raise money for Gloria's expenses for the next few months, at least until we get a better picture of a treatment plan. If you can help donate now, please do, I need to pay her May rent! If you can donate later, please do, all the medical bills are piling up and assuredly will keep coming. If you can't donate, maybe you can help by spreading the word. Send the GoFundMe link to anyone you think might be able to help!

If you have any questions please text me or email me.

As always, I appreciate your support. Gloria appreciates your support. Julia appreciates your support. I don't know how long we will be on this journey but knowing you are all out there to help Gloria has made this experience so much better. The love you all have for her is moving and profound. I couldn't support her without the help from all of you. Thank you to everyone who has already donated time, money, and favors. Thank you to everyone who has been on standby to help. Thank you to everyone who can lend help to a friend, when they need it most! Love is stronger than fear.

Team Leader signing off....

Nina