Mom’s GoFundMe

This is for my wonderful and hardworking mom, Judy.

In December of 2024, Judy went to urgent care for a swollen red spot on her left arm, which turned out to be a blood clot. The doctors weren’t sure what to make of it as she didn’t have any trauma to that spot recently; she didn't hit it on anything, so it was seemingly completely random.

Four weeks later, she had a stroke. The blood thinner Eliquis they had put her on had failed.

The stroke was big, but each area it happened at was tiny. Her doctor said they stopped counting after 13. Judy worked hard at rehabilitating herself with speech therapy and keyboard training. Two weeks after the stroke, they did an MRI of her entire body to find out what caused the stroke, and that’s when the doctors found the blood clots in her lungs. Upon further inspection, they also found cancer nodules and a tumor there as well. The lung cancer had spread to her lymph nodes in her lungs, making it stage 3 lung cancer.

We went through another long two weeks as they thought it may have spread to her brain and spinal cord. Eventually, after experts had sifted through the PET scan, MRI, and CT scans, her care team figured out it was not spreading to her spine and brain. Getting the news that the stroke came from her lung cancer was a surprise. Who would’ve thought we could be thankful for a little blood clot in her arm and an awful stroke? But without those two things, Judy’s lung cancer would’ve kept growing unchecked; she has no physical symptoms! Judy has never smoked or lived in a house with radon, so we’re blown away that this has happened.

She is now a week out from her second round of chemo. She has her good and bad days, but we get through it together. Her sister, daughter (that’s me!), and church friends help her with getting to appointments and some bills. With me taking time off from work to help care for mom during this health crisis, it has made getting bills and house payments made difficult as there is less of a paycheck to work with. We live together, so our money is pooled together. Mom is retired, and her social security check isn’t a lot. We got through just fine before this, but the amount of time away from working is starting to hurt our bills.

Any amount is helpful if you choose to donate, but above all else, prayers for healing and that her chemo helps to reduce her cancer so radiation can help kick this cancer out are so greatly appreciated. This is a great place for you to see updates for Judy on this healing road.