Theresa Raschka Funeral Expenses

After a back injury left my mom in constant pain every day and unable to work, she was left without a source of income or life insurance. Shortly after, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, classified as triple-negative, which can be harder to treat. She spent so many days doing chemotherapy and radiation. Numerous tears were shed, wondering if she would be able to continue to watch her grandchildren grow. She finished treatment, and by the grace of God, she was in remission. She was even able to get disability approved, her luch was looking up!! She spent the next few years spending as much time with her family as she could, knowing how lucky she was to have the second chance.

Her grandchildren were her life. She has 10 of them and they each have their own special bond with her. She watched my youngest ones on days that I worked. She loved watching them grow and helping them with different milestones in life such as potty training and learning their letters. She would have them come spend weekends at her house and spoil them with love and attention. Of course, not all at once because she needed some sanity.

One day, while at my house, she had a health concern and asked me what I thought she should do. I told her she needed to visit the physician and get checked out. From that first visit on, it was a rollercoaster of events and emotions. She was diagnosed with a cancer so rare, many of the health personnel she spoke to about it, did not realize it existed. It was called vaginal melanoma and the odds of it are about 0.3%. How, after beating cancer once, is she facing the battle of another cancer. This time even more rare and more aggressive.

She did not let the odds get to her. She went to every treatment with hope and faith that she would overcome this cancer as well. Unfortunately, due to the rareness of the cancer, not much research was in place for the best way to treat it. They started with immunotherapy to help shrink the tumor and then brachytherapy to destroy it. While in the hospital doing the brachytherapy, she started coughing up blood. This led to a chest xray which showed new lesions on both lungs. This was only 2 months after the initial diagnosis. She was restarted on immunotherapy and a month later, a PET scan revealed even more areas of metastasis. There were new areas on the lungs, as well as the liver, breast, and adrenal gland.

Treatment wasn't working and we were devastated to say the least. The physician suggested trying chemotherapy, but it has a very slim chance of working. She was going to try any way. She wanted to do anything she could to stay alive to see her grandkids grow. When she went for the appointment prior to the first treatment, the physician wanted us to take her to the hospital right away for a CT of the head. We all knew what he was looking for, as we too noticed the changes in her. When the results came back that the cancer was in her brain, my mom broke down in tears. All the appointments and traveling, all the treatments, all the pain she endured, and still the cancer took over. How do you survive one cancer, only to be destroyed by another one only a few short years later?

She was in the hospital for just a short time after the brain cancer diagnosis. It was with a heavy heart that she and our family decided to allow her to spend what days she had left, comfortable and surrounded by family. She lived with my family and I (all her grandchildren) until the day she passed. My 11-year old daughter was by her side when she left this world on June 20, 2022.

Due to the hardships she had prior to this life event, she had no life insurance to help with the cost of her funeral. I am the only person to bare the cost of it. With a family of my own, this has put a heavy financial strain on our household. I ask that if you have it in your heart to help, it would be so greatly appreciated. We are keeping the service small and doing cremation, but still the cost adds up. Thank you for taking time to read this and God bless.