My name is August. I’m the daughter of a mother who has been my hero forever. Our mother, Mary Beth, has lived her life advocating for the less fortunate and being a friend and supporter to people in life who are the least looked upon. Devoting her life to her family and her church, she has always served those with kindness, faith, and love, even through courageous battles with leukemia and lung cancer.

She has endured surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy treatments for over 12 years, always handling it with grace and gratitude. We have been grateful for the times that she has prevailed with remission. Our family is always humbled by her strength and resilience to beat cancer. Two years ago, our mother was diagnosed with aggressive acute leukemia that took a year of painful treatments and procedures until the cancer was no longer showing in her tests. We were so grateful for our mother to have her life back and finally have a break from cancer. No more than three months after her battle with acute leukemia, she still had issues with her breathing, having fevers, and weakness. It felt never-ending for her. My brother and I were so concerned and confused, especially since she had completed successful treatment for her leukemia. After multiple trips to the emergency room and calls to her oncologists, we were able to get her seen by her other oncologist for a check-up, where they scheduled her for a CT scan. The results came back with an image of a small mass on her lower right lung. Our family was crushed but tried to remain optimistic. She was then advised to get a biopsy to confirm the mass on her lung was cancerous. The results came back that her lung cancer had returned. We were crushed but ready to support our mom through it all. The lung cancer started causing fluid to build around the right lung rapidly, needing to be drained out routinely. The oncologist informed us that the cancer was more aggressive and that chemotherapy would likely do more harm to her, especially since she was so weak after beating leukemia. The only safe option was immunotherapy. Again, we banded together, and our mom started treatment as well as having a catheter placed near her lung to drain the fluids building up. As the months went on, follow-up scans and blood tests were done. The news came back that the cancer had spread to the bottom of her spine, hip bone, and was spreading to her left lung as well. It devastated our family, but as always, our mom's grace and courage were accepting of the crushing news. All she asked is that she could do home hospice. We couldn’t have been more honored to be able to continue caring for our beloved mother. Even though the larger role of caregivers would be more demanding, we wouldn’t have it any other way. My brother, sister in law and I scheduled our caregiving, work, and personal lives around our beloved mom. That’s what you do for a mother that has given you endless love and support. Our mom’s health insurance has afforded us a nurse that comes to visit once a week and a number to call for support. The rest was our role as caregivers. Over the past few months, our mom’s health has declined significantly. She can no longer care for herself to go to the bathroom, eat, change clothes wash etc. Our days consist of keeping her comfortable and surrounded by her loved ones. About two months ago, I was laid off from my job. We had already been struggling as a family trying to afford additional medical needs that aren’t covered by her insurance or hospice. We were torn as a family trying to figure out how to pay the bills while also caring for our mom. Our families, unfortunately, don’t have the financial ability or bandwidth to cover all our family’s bills and medical necessities to keep our mom comfortable. At this time, it is most important that we give our mother the support and time she deserves. We are not the type to ask for help, we have always taken care of our own while gladly taking care of anyone who needed the support, but this time we ask for any assistance that can be provided. We, as always, have the utmost gratitude for anything, sharing or donating anything will help during this incredibly difficult time.

Thank you and God bless.