Support for my mother with palliative stage 4 lung cancer

Hi, My name is Ashley. I am Monica's daughter. I first want to Thank everyone for all you have done to help, and your continued love and support through this heartbreaking time for me and my mom, it means so much to me.

Some of you are aware that my mom received a diagnosis of stage 1 lung cancer last year. After 30 rounds of radiation and a ton of chemo, we thought she had beat it!

It breaks my heart to write this but I truly do not know where to turn. We discovered through follow up CT scans and a bunch of other tests that the lung cancer has metastasized through out her body, and she is now stage 4 lung cancer. At this time there is no treatment as she is palliative and any treatment would be for symptom relief only. The cancer has traveled to her mediastinum and aortic arch making it difficult for her to breath. It has also traveled to her bones and adrenal glands and tumors are continuing to pop up all over her body. I do not know how much longer we have together.

I am acting as her caregiver and anything else she needs through this time and as hard as that has been, I am happy to be able to spend as much time with her as possible. While this has been extremely overwhelming, I would never ever let her go through this alone or want her to go through the fear of it all alone. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here with her.

In Sept. she was admitted to the hospital for what we thought was a broken forearm. We then discovered the cancer in her bones and that it had essentially eaten away the bone. We have been waiting to get her surgery for cement, plates and pins but couldn't seem to get her healthy enough yet. The hospital visit lasted around 18 days where she had multiple blood transfusions and anti biotics.

In Oct. she was again admitted for another 10 days as chemo is really hard on her. She had received 3 blood transfusions and 2 platelet infusions. Her left lung was also drained due to pleural effusion. She is scheduled for surgery for her arm Nov. 20th so we are just continuing to pray she gets approved for it as the cast is heavy on her and the lack of bone from the cancer there is a big source of pain right now.

During these hospital stays I went to the hospital to be with her everyday. I have depleted all savings, and any funds that were available to help us through this time are gone. Most of it has gone to transportation to and from the hospital during her stays and to chemo and radiation, as well as to medical assistive devices, meal replacements and any other essential needs to help keep her at home with me and her cat Sox for as long as possible.

Finding out I am losing my mom has been truly devastating. I can't even describe the pain and sadness in my heart. I am trying my hardest to be so strong in order to continue to support her physically, mentally, and emotionally. I will cherish all of this time together. When I am able to get her smiling and laughing, those will be the moments I keep closest in my heart along with a lifetime of memories having a mom who is also a best friend to me.

I also do not have the funds to manage end of life costs and anything that goes along with that once we arrive there. I pray to God for more time with her everyday but I understand that time is so limited now as I watch her fading away. The fear is unreal but we are both trying to come to terms with it all.

Every share and any amount in donation would help during this extremely difficult time. I truly appreciate your empathy, your time, your understanding and your generosity.

Thank you, with all my heart.