Cancer is winning against the Benson family

My name is Shauna Street, and I am organizing this fundraiser on behalf of my co-worker and friend Gary Benson and his family.

Gary has been married for 26 years to his loving wife, Stacey Benson. Stacey was first diagnosed with cancer in 2008. After a double mastectomy, many rounds of radiation, and lengthy chemo treatment, she finally received a clean bill of health in 2018.

During her treatment, she traveled round trip nearly 250 miles multiple times to provide her father with comfort and necessities as he entered the VA for his remaining life until completing his final arrangements.

Also, during this challenging time, she raised her only son, that had been diagnosed with autism. She fought every step of the way for him to be treated like the other normal children in school and not allow him to be placed with severely disabled children that catered to the school's needs and not his. Fast forward several years, and he was on the academic debate team.

As if she did not already have so much on her plate, she moved her mother in with them to take care of her until she needed 24-hour day nursing, and then Stacey planned and carried out her final arrangements.

Stacey generally carried out all these tasks alone because Gary has worked 2 jobs for the last 15 years, trying to make ends meet. Gary has expressed to me how Stacey wanted nothing more than to be an exceptional wife and mother, and she more than achieved that goal.

Like other parents, they could not wait to see their son walk the stage at graduation. Unfortunately, before this happened, there was terrible news. As soon as her doctors stopped monitoring her for a reoccurrence, Stacey had an MRI done on a painful shoulder. The MRI revealed her cancer had come back. Immediately Stacey was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in early 2020. COVID-19 safety protocols made treatment and further diagnosis challenging to say the least. However, Stacey would not let this define her or deny her upcoming graduation or party for her son. Regrettably, due to COVID, graduation had been canceled, but that did not stop them from having a grand party to celebrate their son's achievements.

Stacey and Gary felt her diagnosis could be treated with all the traditional medicines, rest, diet, and plenty of love and support.

Their plan was ultimately dissolved, and their life changed dramatically once again when they received the most devasting news yet; the cancer had spread to Stacey's brain.

It is Gary's wish to provide his wife with as much comfort and dignity as possible during the final leg of her fight.

The funds received will be used to comfort her or bring her any possible enjoyment. After that, the money will go to funeral expenses, and any remaining donations will go to their son's college tuition.

Gary told me, "Stacey and I have been together for over 26 years, and I will be forever thankful for the time we had. Stacey is and will always be the love of my life. I will always be grateful for our son and the never-ending love she gave us. "

Our friend and co-worker Gary must be devastated right now. I think he feels disbelief, shock, anger, and fear as if he has been tossed into a river in a canoe without a life jacket, a paddle, directions on where to go, or a survival kit to help keep him afloat in the middle of a storm. He has no control over the rate or speed of the river's flow and has minimal visibility of what curves or rapids are ahead.

Life is about loving and helping each other. Let's give Gary the support he needs to navigate these rough waters and weather the storm. Please consider donating if you can do so. We are so very grateful for every donation during this difficult time.