Sister is having a tumor removed from her spine

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Manuel Serrano and Celina Serrano are organizing this fundraiser.

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Update: 04/20/2023

Doctors gave the okay to discharge me from the hospital. I will be doing a home health plan of care with Altomar. Last year when I had this surgery I was sent to a rehabilitation hospital and I feel so blessed this time I will be doing it at home. RN will be visiting 3X a week, physical therapy and occupational therapy 2X a week each. They have already came to my house and we did the evaluations and set the plan of care.

As I mentioned last time, the doctor said that the tumor spread to my ribs. I was told I will be doing another procedure to remove the tumor in about 4-5 weeks. My appointment to see the cardiothoracic surgeon will be on the week of April 24-29. I believe in miracles and I pray to god this tumor goes away and I don’t have to do this second procedure. However, I’m confident that even if I have to do the second procedure everything will work out the way it’s meant to be.

Going through this type of things you have to realize quick that your life doesn’t pause. You don’t stop being a mother, an employee a friend, or what have you. One thing is that you have to adjust to the temporary lifestyle as soon as possible. It’s a great opportunity to realize who wants to be there for you. I learned that sometimes people also feel joy about the pain you’re feeling because of your disparities. To those people, I say thank you. Thank you for giving me another reason to get stronger and better. The backlash only fuels my strength. However, I’m here, I’m in a lot of pain, medicines don’t really help the chronic pain but this pain I feel is like any other thing in life. It’s only temporary and I’m going to make the best of it. Thank you again for your prayers and support. I will continue to update you as much as possible. Stay blessed!

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Update: 04/17/2023

Thank you so much for your support and prayers.

They have removed the tumor from my spine after a 10 hour procedure. They had to put 2 liters of blood since I was loosing too much blood.

Unfortunately, the tumor spread to my ribs and I will be doing another procedure in about 5 weeks.

I share this so openly because it's just an obstacle life is throwing at me and I just have to get through it with faith, and a good attitude! I trust god that everything will be okay. From the bottom of my heart thank you so much for your help.

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Hello,

I want to start of by saying thank you for taking the time to read my GoFundMe and to my brother for starting the account. The reason I need the GoFundMe is because I have a tumor in my spine. In Jan of 2022 I had an emergency laminectomy surgery in which the tumor was removed and in April of 2023, I went to the emergency room for back pain, and they did a CT scan and that’s where I learned the tumor had grown back. The first time I had the tumor removed, I was prepared to be out of work for 6 months. The first tumor was blocking blood flow to my legs where I couldn’t walk and I had to use a cane and a wheelchair for support. From my legs being so numb and the number of months it went through without having proper blood flow I had to relearn how to walk. Since my first surgery I wondered why I hadn’t felt better, and it turns out my incision was healed but the tumor was growing all this time causing other concerns. Now with facing a second surgery within 15 months I had no opportunity to prepare because of my limitations. I really need help from my family and friends. We are still awaiting to see if it is cancerous or not.

If you don’t know me and you are reading this, thank you! I really appreciate it. I would like to share a little bit about me. I am a mother of 3 children. Aracely (13 yrs. old), William (7 yrs. Old) and Mason (6 yrs. old). Aracely is my oldest, I was 15years old when I had her. I don’t encourage anyone to have kids that young, but she’s the best thing that has happened to me. If you would of seen me in high school how focused I was pregnant with her, you’d had no doubt it was just meant to be. William stole my heart when he was born. He’s such a sweet boy with a huge heart! Always saying Hi to everyone with his cute smile. I appreciate his loyalty. Mason is my preemie baby. He pushes through anything and has a strong willingness to always keep going no matter how much he gets put down. I love his joyfulness! I am also a junior at New Mexico State University studying for Civil Engineering Technology. One of my mentors Kenny Stevens introduced me to a group called Aggies Without Limits. In which they are a nonprofit organization established to partner developing communities worldwide. I’ve had the opportunity to attend projects in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, local small projects in Anthony, NM, Las Cruces, NM and other ones in which I am grateful to have had the opportunity to help these communities. In 2019, I had moved to San Antonio with my kids because I had planned to join the military. With my college credits I had the advantage to rank higher as soon as I joined. It would have been beneficial for me and the kids. I know it sounds cheesy, but I’ve always wanted to be in the military to serve my country and fight for our freedom. While in San Antonio, I was given the opportunity to be an Agent, for New York Life Insurance Company. A fortune 100 company that was established in 1845. As my role as an agent, I am happy to say I helped many people protect themselves from the unexpected and begin to work on their retirement. My plan was to do the air force reserves and work as an agent at New York Life, I was trying to create two streams of income because as a sole provider I have had to work two jobs here and there and I was tired of it, I just wanted to do better for my kids and really push myself. In 2020, my family was impacted with many challenges during the pandemic. I had to change some things in which I moved back to my hometown Chaparral, NM. I brought back the opportunity with New York Life, but I had to put the military on hold. During the pandemic I had an idea to help my community, in which created a fundraiser called “We Stand Together”. It was for the children out of my hometown chaparral where with the help of many amazing people “We Stand Together” was able to provide school supplies and blankets and quilts for 400 children. Now these past 2 years I’ve been dealing with this medical condition, and I haven’t been able to work on my goals because of my illness. My mind is going faster than my body. I am learning patience. What’s meant for me will come, everything has a purpose. This disability has really changed my life. I am very limited to what I can do. I hope after this surgery I can get back to working on my goals and participate in other community projects because it’s what I love to do.

As a mentioned earlier, I barely found out in the beginning of April of 2023 about the tumor growing back. Due to the critical size of the mass, I was able to see my neurosurgeon the next day. I was sent to do an MRI on April 13, 2023. I wasn’t feeling well, and I went to the hospital on April 16, and I was admitted right away. I honestly thought I was going to go back home when I went to the emergency room. I didn’t even have a chance to get a bag ready and now I am scheduled for an emergency surgery on 04/17/23 at 9:30am. The doctor says that it is a riskier surgery than the first one. Projected time out of work is about 6 + months. I’ll be very transparent; I’ve been living paycheck to paycheck because I only prepared roughly 6 months for the first surgery in which was not enough because I was unable to work the whole time just using my savings as my income replacement. I went back to work later in the year. My current check is only going to be enough for my upcoming bills but after that I really cannot afford to be disabled. I will be in the hospital after surgery for about 2-3 weeks and then I will be sent over to a rehabilitation hospital for inpatient therapy for physical and occupational. In which I will be in the rehabilitation hospital for 2-3 weeks. Right after discharge, I will have to go see an outpatient physical therapist and lastly go under radiation to get rid of what was left of the tumor. I have a long way to go for this recovery. I am confident that this is meant for me and I believe in God that everything will turn out well and my 3 children will have their mother. Even if it’s an emergency surgery and it’s riskier than the first one I will not get intimidated. I am excited to finally get this tumor out, and get better. Too bad the tumor is so big and I have to have an emergency surgery. I am ready for the challenge and get through it, so I can do fun activities with my kids without having any limitations. Our life will get better.

Thank you for reading my story and the reason why I am asking for help with funds. Since it has been a scheduled emergency I really did not have a chance to plan for this. I really need help with my expenses. I am truly embarrassed; I must do this because I really need help in taking care of my family while I’m fighting with this medical condition. I know you have a lot of choices on how to spend your hard-working money. If you choose me to distribute your money to, I pray God doubles the amount and I want to thank you in advance for helping me solve my crisis with grace and compassion. God bless you, and from the bottom of my heart Thank you. Wish me luck please!! Another laminectomy surgery to remove a tumor, READY TO TACKLE THIS TUMOR! I will update to help you keep track of my recovery. Thank you!!

Here are some photos!!