
Support Diane's Battle Against Bladder Cancer
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Hi Everyone, thanks for stopping by mom Diane's page. If you are landing here, you are most likely a friend, family member, or loved one of another variety. On May 25th, we learned that she had been diagnosed with stage 3 bladder cancer. We were all stricken by the news, as many of you know my mom is a vivacious woman who takes great care of herself, the diagnosis was a surprise to say the least.
While dealing with the grief and shock it was evident that the best thing we could do was take concrete steps to provide a care strategy for my mom's treatment going forward. My brother Zack, his partner Cara, my mom's friend Kolleen, and myself set about learning as much as we could about bladder cancer as well as the treatment options for combatting it. The cancer is by no means a death sentence, but it became clear that an arduous road to recovery was ahead. For those of you unfamiliar, as was I a few months ago, the rough treatment process is as follows. Initially a small surgery is performed to remove as much of the cancer that lies on the bladder as possible. This basically involves scraping the bladder of any surface level tumors that can be "easily" removed. The next step is chemotherapy to attempt to eradicate any cancer that may have spread to other parts of the body and will not be easily removable via surgery. Lastly, the bladder is removed and reconstructed using other internal organs. This is done to ensure that any cancer left in the lining of the bladder is eliminated.
This is a horrifically taxing process, both physically and emotionally, that we as a family are only beginning to understand.
Furthermore, the short term financial as well as long term financial implications are significant. As a result of the chemo and treatment process my mom will not be able to work for the next 6 months. Due to this, her medical expenses and day to day living costs are going to greatly exceed what she can afford. We as a family are doing all we can to support her, but as you may have guessed (this being a GoFundMe) additional support would be extremely helpful. If you have the ability to contribute anything we as a family would be beyond grateful.
Additionally, if you wish to follow along on my mom's journey we will be regularly updating her caring bridge here.
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop in and hear about my mom, any love and support is so appreciated during this time.
Fundraising team (5)
Eli Darby
Organizer
Detroit, MI
Diane Darby
Beneficiary
Cara McClain
Team member
Kolleen Burr
Team member
Tricia Cook
Team member