Serina's Final Journey

In the fall of 2019, Serina was diagnosed with lymphoma. The doctors believed her cancer was curable with 6 sessions of vigorous chemotherapy. With optimism and hope, we all believed Serina was on her road to being cancer-free one chemo session at a time. Serina endured every side effect imaginable to the chemotherapy and quickly learned her journey was going to be an uphill battle with frequent hospital stays that turned into many lonely nights with restricted visitors due to covid. After her 5th session of chemo infusion, Serina began developing shortness of breath that baffled her oncologist and expert clinicians. Endless tests, scans and trialing a plethora of medications, Serina continued to struggle with her breathing. She developed bronchiectasis obliterans from her chemotherapy, an extremely rare condition. She spent over a year on home oxygen, fighting to breathe, with difficulty in managing her daily life activities. 2020 has been a tough year for many, due to countless reasons which feels like the world is falling apart at times. With hardship we also find silver linings, it lies in the significant family time Serina was able to spend with her daughters Izzy (10) and Gracie (7) as they were homeschooling during quarantine. 

Anyone who has spent even a small amount of time with Serina will quickly learn she is a child at heart with boundless energy. She is unfiltered and sassy but don’t let that mask her generosity in kindness. She will always be the first one in the room to introduce herself, candid with genuine positive energy that fills the room. You may also find her being the one dancing like noone is watching and unapologetically singing. Serina grew up in Philadelphia spending much of her childhood playing in the streets of Chinatown then moved to Maryland at the age of 10. She received her Bachelor’s degree at Virginia Tech then found herself back to her roots in Philadelphia where she met Dave. As time passed, their love grew and were married in 2008. They have 2 beautiful daughters together Izzy (10) and Gracie (7).

Serina kept fighting with hopes of a lung transplant. However her disease progressed and she was not a candidate for lung transplant. She has expressed countless times she would never want to live on life support and would rather spend quality time with her family and friends. With the support of her loved ones, she made the courageous decision to be comfortable on home hospice. She spent her last few days with family and friends at bedside making small conversation, having a few small chuckles, eating whatever she desired, and entertained by her girls Izzy and Gracie bouncing around being their usual selves. On the evening of March 23, 2021, Serina passed. She is survived by her husband David Desjardins, Isabelle Desjardins and Grace Desjardins.

In lieu of flowers, we appreciate donations contributing to funds designated to Izzy and Gracie for college or education of their choice.