Help Mom Beat Cancer

Hello, We are writing on behalf of our mother, Debbie Calangelo. Those of you who have met her, know her to be one of the kindest and most selfless people that you will ever meet. As a mother of four and grandmother of two, it is no surprise that her meatloaf and peanut butter brownies are the best you’ve ever tasted! At the end of January 2018, our mother went into the emergency room for shoulder pain. It was shortly after that she was diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer. Her x-rays showed that she had multiple tumors in her lungs as well as a spot of cancer on her skull. She was quickly treated with radiation for ten straight visits. The radiation treatments were immediately followed by Keytruda (a type of immunotherapy) every three weeks for a year. She continued these treatments until this past February, when doctors discovered the treatments were no longer working. On March 15, 2019 she was having difficulty seeing, standing, walking, as well as motor skills with her hands. Our father took her to the ER where two tumors, one in her frontal lobe and the other in her occipital lobe, were discovered. At this point it was confirmed that the cancer had traveled to her brain. Aggressive treatments began immediately, and mom underwent 5 straight days of cyber-knife radiation directly to her brain. Treatment took a toll on mom and left her very weak and tired. A few short weeks later, she was having difficulty breathing and staying awake. Another trip to the Emergency Room on April 20 identified multiple blood clots in her lungs as well as a blood clot in her left leg. This left her in the Intensive Care Unit for 5 days on blood thinners to help dissolve the blood clots. During her stay there the blood clots put such a strain on her heart that she was put on two heart medications to prevent her from having a massive heart attack. Once she was stable enough, she was able to go the cardiac step-down unit for another four days. On April 26, she was finally released and started a different type of chemotherapy. This campaign was created to help with the costs associated with her treatment and the accruing medical costs. There is still a long road ahead, but our mother is one of the strongest women we know. She is a fighter and with the support of friends, family, and those of you who can help, she will get through this! Thank you for reading her story and thank you for all your support, prayers, and donations. Please share, like, repost, and retweet her story.