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I never thought that I would ever have to tell you about by mom’s battle with Cancer, it has been hard to even put the two words together “Mom and Cancer”. My mom has always been a hardworking, loyal, giving and compassionate to my siblings and I along with many other children.
She and my Dad have been foster parents for 56 medically fragile newborns for L.A. County, which are some of the sickest babies to care for. They also adopted 5 of their children for a total of 7 of us. Five years ago at the age of 54 she decided to get back into professional photography as a business. She has captured so many beautiful families and babies within those years. Additionally, she has also volunteered her services with the non-profit organization called “Now I Lay Me down To Sleep”. She has photographed and captured the precious last moments of many babies in the hospital, in the middle of the night, during their final moments here on earth while their families grieved. That’s not an easy assignment, but with her newborn experience and compassion she was often called. I don't know how she did that, but she did it.
Last year, my Mom started to complain about back pain. She made an effort to lose weight and eat healthier. She had some success and this helped the back pain a bit, but it was always there.
In February of 2015, she leaned over and had a horrible pain and spasm in her back. She went to the doctor and was told she had a back strain. No x-ray, just instructions on better body mechanics and some medication. After two weeks of continued pain, I urged her to get an x-ray. This showed a compression fracture of L-1. She was given a hard back brace, which helped somewhat, and she kept working.
On Friday, March 6th, 2015, our world was turned upside down. My sister, Stef, took our Mom to the ER. I was working when she came in and I had a bad feeling. When the doctor got the blood test back, he walked over to her, where she was alone on a hallway gurney and told her she most likely had Multiple Myeloma. Cancer. We were shocked. We gave her blood transfusions right away and she was admitted. It was a night I will never forget.
We saw the oncologist the next day and he did a bone marrow biopsy at her bedside. I’ve never heard my Mom scream in pain like that before and it made me nauseous. The results came back that she did have multiple myeloma and chemotherapy was started immediately. She was admitted for two weeks that time. When she was discharged, she returned a day later with a high fever and spent time on bi-pap in the ICU. In addition, her back had 3 compression fractures and every time she was moved, she’d have horrible muscle spasms and scream. That stay was about another week. She was given a very high dose of chemotherapy- 4 days straight with 4 different meds. She was discharged and returned in septic shock a day and a half later. Mom was as close to death as anyone can be. I watched my ER staff fight to save her life and it is nothing short of a miracle that she survived that infection. We have witnessed the awesome power of God.
Mom’s prognosis is uncertain. She has finished her chemo and by the grace of God she will be starting her Stem Cell Transplant treatment. This will require her to be admitted for about 4 weeks at UCLA and then another 4 weeks at a location close to UCLA. The procedure will not be an easy procedure and many prayers are needed.
Although this is a huge blessing, it will also be an enormous financial hardship on her family. Needless to say, between co-pays and expensive medicines, it gets very expensive. Their medical insurance premiums alone are $1354.00 a month, and that’s just to cover the two of them. They are blessed to have medical insurance, however it’s so costly. So many people have been gracious in so many ways this past year, and for that we are forever grateful, especially for your prayers and support. We know that my mom is a fighter and will kick this cancer to the curb. We need your help, so please consider giving a financial gift and most importantly continue praying for her health! I am thankful every day she is here.
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