Our sister Michele Harris was first diagnosed with cervical cancer at the very young age of 26 when she became pregnant with her now 13 year old daughter. She could have chosen to terminate the pregnancy and begin treatment immediately or wait and risk the chance for the cancer to grow and spread. She couldn’t bear the thought of not having her baby girl so she decided to wait. When the time finally came to start treatment the cancer was so advanced the original plan of a hysterectomy was no longer an option. Instead lymph nodes were removed and she began several treatments of radiation and chemo. After a long battle that she had to fight alone with her family miles away in another state she finally got a clean scan showing the treatments had worked. After 10 years of being in remission she received the shocking news that her cancer had returned. She underwent several more rounds of a hard chemo cocktail. She suffered many complications and countless trips to the ER but was finally told that she had no evidence of disease. They placed her on a maintenance chemo and after just 3 treatments she felt that dreaded pain she knew all too well. The cancer had returned again. This time the cancer and treatments took a toll on her. Nothing was working and all it was doing was causing countless complications for her, keeping her completely bedridden for over a year. Her non-stop ER visits, continuous and lengthy hospital stays, countless surgeries and procedures left her suffering in pain daily. She was being seen weekly in the infusion center needing fluids for extreme dehydration. She had to have colostomy and an ileostomy bags due to the reoccurring fistulas and the need for nephrostomy tubes came soon after that because her kidneys weren’t draining and the stents that were placed kept Michele on non stop antibiotics for infections. She is now in hospice care where she is living out her remaining days surrounded by her family. Because of covid her husband had been her sole caregiver. Sometimes leaving him to miss countless days at work sometimes only working 3 hours a week or none at all. Due to her previous diagnosis her husband Jeremy was never able to place her on his life insurance plan. So now Jeremy is left with thousands of dollars in hospital bills and no way to bury his beloved wife when the time comes.

Instead of celebrating and preparing for Christmas with loved one as everyone else is doing this year, we are watching our sister slowly die feeling helpless knowing that when the time comes instead of opening presents we will be trying to figure out a way to help lay our sister to rest.

We are hoping to raise enough money for funeral expenses and to help Jeremy with all of her hospital bills. Any remaining money will be split into savings accounts for Michele’s children. Jonathan who is 21 and has been unable to see his mom in over a year due to being stationed in New York currently serving in the army. Michele’s 13 year old daughter Reagan who has been able to do nothing but watch her mother slowly fade away.