Help with my mother’s medical bills, funeral arrangements, & childcare costs due to Covid-19

THE ONSET

My mom was always a very healthy person. She was one of those people who never got sick. Unfortunately On February 22 my mother was rushed to the emergency room & admitted into the ICU unit for low potassium levels & weakness.

LABORATORY REPORTS

After many labs, doctors diagnosed my mother with stage 4 metastasis breast cancer. Her labs showed the cancer had spread from her breast into her liver, brain, & bones. We were told that my mom had a very aggressive strain of cancer called “Her2 “which could make treating it very difficult, however we didn’t give up hope. She was determined to overcome every obstacle doctors told her could be challenging. Doctors immediately started radiation treatment & was helping her regain her strength with the help of Physical therapy & occupational therapy.

LIFE IN REHAB

After 4 weeks in the hospital, she was finally strong enough to go to rehab! She spent 2 weeks in rehab learning take care of herself again before she was approved to go home. On the day she was discharged from rehab April 5, I was supposed to pick her up after I got off work & dropped my daughter off to school. However, I ended up hydroplaning into the grass instead. I totaled my car, but I was fine. My aunt who is her sister helped me bring her home instead.

Doctors ordered all of her labs before she left & I was told everything looked fine for her to leave. However, despite the labs & everyone saying, she was safe to go home less than 24 hours later she had breathing difficulties.

BIRTHDAY

April 6th I had planned to go out to enjoy my birthday, which was the following day, but as I got dressed, my mother’s issues increased. She was very uncomfortable and was slightly panicking. I cancelled my plans and stood by her side until she felt better & was calm.

The morning of my birthday, I woke up early to check on her not expecting anything honestly. To my surprise, my mother was half way off the bed trying to communicate but was unable to make any clear words. I called the ambulance again & when they checked her O2 levels, it was at 54%, which means she was breathing at half the capacity needed for her body. This time when she went into ICU she stayed much longer & had to be placed onto life support, on my birthday. Her lab reports showed her lungs collapsing which was causing her breathing issues.

MY MOM’S CONDITION GOT EVEN WORSE

Doctors were unable to perform a biopsy to see why due to her being in critical condition. Even on life, support my mom was not doing that well. The slightest movement would cause her O2 levels to continue to drop. Even with life support, her oxygen levels remained below 90%. Doctors pretty much sat down with me & told me she most likely would not wake up if they couldn’t get her to breathe on her own again.

After 2 weeks, they said they had to take her off due to us not having insurance for her. To everyone surprise my mom woke up, she was weak again but she was alive. We used sign language to communicate until she was able to talk again. Once again, my mom had to relearn how to do everything for herself again due to being in ICU for weeks. I am not sure why she was not immediately made a hospice patient after leaving the ICU, however she never got better.

For the two months, my mother cried & yelled in pain as the cancer continued to spread. All chemotherapy & radiation treatments had been stopped once she went back to ICU. There was nothing we could do but attempt to comfort her while she had a slow long excruciating painful death. Mind you, this entire time she is being denied extra pain medications & being forced to do physical therapy & occupational therapy. While she was actively dying. She was not made a hospice patient until 3 hours before she died!

MOM’S DEMISE

My mom passed away June 15.

MY CAREER

I work in healthcare as a Nurse Assistant & I am on the frontlines with fighting COVID-19. Most of my family happens to be elderly, so it would be unwise of me to come around them just for childcare. With schools not being in session due to covid & my mother now gone it makes having reliable childcare difficult for me. My daughter is too young for me to leave at home while I work, so I cannot pick up the overtime hours I would need to get everything back on track. However, with this funding I could pay off her medical bills, funeral arrangements, & childcare costs.

INSURANCE

I applied for life insurance for my entire family 3 months before my mother was diagnosed with Cancer. Since the life insurance policy is so new & she was healthy when we applied but within months, she had a deadly disease the life insurance company is doing an investigation to make sure we did not commit any fraud, which causes a delay in funds if they choose to disburse them.

ABOUT ME

My name is Father Mark and donations made will benefit the family of the deceased. We are praying for the Family as they agonize the death of their lovely mom. As a parish, we have lost an irreplaceable believer.