My name is Vanesa and I am Sally’s second oldest daughter. My mom passed away on November 9th, 2023. Our family is in shock. We are heart broken.

Sally was taken to ER by my dad on October 25th, 2023 where she finally got admitted in the early morning hours of October 26th. Sally was being treated for a blockage. On the evening of the 26th, Sally had a sudden onset of immense pain and she felt like she was on fire inside her body. Throughout the night of the 26th, my mom’s vitals became unstable. My mom was taken in for emergency surgery in the early morning of October 27th.

The 27th just so happened to be my parents 37th wedding anniversary. My dad rushed to the hospital but didn’t make it in time to see her before going into surgery. They said their “I love yous” and “Happy Anniversary” via facetime and that was the last time my parent would speak to eachother until November 3rd, 2023.

Surgery found a perforated bowel that had gone necrotic (dead bowel) that had leaked into her body. My mom was in septic shock. My mom would spend the next 14 days in ICU fighting for her life. My mom was in complete organ failure. She miraculously had started to progress in the right direction. They eventually took her off sedation. She was doing dialysis. Her body was still weak. Things took a turn for my mom on the night of November 9th. Medical staff found her unresponsive. They intubated my mom and began life saving measures. My dad was the only one by her side. Myself and my two other sisters had been in Portland supporting our oldest sister in the birth of her fourth child. We had been torn in two directions. We knew our mom would have wanted us supporting our sister in Portland. Just four hours after the birth of my mom’s 6th grandchild, we had gotten a call from my dad. We were all on speaker phone as my dad entered the room and the doctor allowed us to say what we needed to say to our mom. Our dad was alone. After 17 minutes the doctors had to call it.

We are looking to raise financial support for our dad during this time. Medical bills, any additional funeral expenses, and unforseen expenses to help my dad have a cushion and not feel stressed and overwhelmed with all the bills and legal fees. Anything helps. Anything is appreciated.