My name is Heather, and this is my mother, Kim. For the last 3 years, I have been my mother's caregiver after she had a heart attack. After her heart attack, her kidneys began to fail, and it left her very, very sick. While waiting for her to reach stage 5 kidney failure, she started having more heart issues, as her kidneys were putting a lot of strain on her heart. During this time, she had reached stage 5 but was unable to begin kidney dialysis until her heart was fixed. This made her more sick. After numerous heart procedures, she was finally able to start receiving dialysis treatments. For the last 3 years, we have fought very hard to get her better, and even harder these last few months. And for a moment, dialysis seemed like it was working, and she finally started feeling better. But sadly, out of nowhere, she got sick again. Every time my mother gets sick, it comes on very fast, and she always seems worse than before. This time, doctors are stumped on what it could be. Her heart is good, but it seems like everything else is starting to fail on her, and her hemoglobin dropped to critical levels, indicating a bleed somewhere internally. She was admitted into the hospital.

For the past couple of years, her pain has grown worse and worse. She hurts all over her body so badly you can barely touch her without causing her pain. My mother has been scared and exhausted for a long time now. So while in the hospital, she started refusing treatments, including dialysis. With her health already being very poor, her doctors approached her and gave her a choice, and asked if she would want to continue treatments or begin palliative care (end of life care). My mother chose to move forward with end of life. This choice hurts, but after watching what she has been through these last years, I support her decision. And soon, my mother will finally have peace. Unfortunately, we were not prepared for this. As I truly believed we would get her better. I should have prepared. With this happening so suddenly, I do not have the money to cremate my mom. My mom doesn't want a funeral, so I'm just trying to raise enough for the cremation, and hopefully 3 urns, so me, my brother, and sister can have something nice to put her in when she comes home. I know times are hard, so if you're unable to donate, please share. My mom deserves a place to rest. And her family needs the comfort.