Rosie L. Unzueta "Dragonfly"

Hello dear friends and family. Many have showed interest in making a donation to help support my sisters funeral expenses and have asked if I have created a GoFundMe page. I had not created one because I am still very much in denial that my big is is gone. As I take the time to put this page together, I thank you in advance for all your support as any little bit helps. I also take this time to thank you for the overflow of love displayed toward my sister and my family and countless prayers; we would not be able to get through this without it. Here is my sisters journey: On Saturday, January 19th my sister Rosie lost her battle to Cancer and Crohn's disease. She had been in pain for over seventeen years and had a total of twelve surgeries; nine due to Crohn's and three more recent ones due to Cancer. At one point we thought she beat Cancer but months after we were told it came back. Unfortunately it came back with a vengeance. At this time she began her battle once more with chemo and radiation as her weapons; more pain to endure as the radiation left her with four degree burns. She had a long and painful journey to healing. On Monday, December 3, 2018 she went into what would have been a very aggressive surgery, but three hours into it, the Doctors decided it was not possible to proceed since the tumor had aggressively grown and it was impossible to remove. On this day the little hope we had was shattered when I was told there was nothing more they could do for her. My heart broke as my sister was still in ICU fighting for her life. The hours that followed seemed to be in slow motion as we were immediately introduced to a Hospice Doctor who told us my sister had six months to live and then in the same sentence indicted she may have six weeks. I prayed and hoped for the longer time. My sister seemed to get better and was able to wake up from ICU, but only to now hear her beloved Doctor tell her his fight had ended and he no longer could do anything else; confirming the Cancer would take her life. What would anyone in this position do? How would you handle such news? My sister cried and then with such courage thanked her Doctor and assured him he had done all he could. The next weeks were a fight to accept her life would end and the desire to live. She decided to go back to Mission Care Rehabilitation center since she had so many friends there and it was a place she loved to volunteer at when she felt well. Every day was different, some days she slept more and struggled to eat and other days she was alert, laughing, watching her favorite shows, and spending time with us. There where points were we thought she was stronger and would be with us for months to come...and then things started to decline. She began to sleep more, eat less, lose concentration and hallucinate. It broke my heart to see her slip away as she slowly lost who she was. Last week she called me out of the blue and it made me so happy to be able to have a conversation with her even if it was a short one and about food. We sat with her as she slept and then woke up and watched TV with us. On Thursday night I facetimed with her and although asleep, she was coherent and talking to me. Friday came, but she was different. She was asleep, and when I tried to wake her she would not wake up, she would not open her eyes, she would only make noises so to let us know she could hear us. She attempted to squeeze our hand when we asked her to but she was so weak she couldn't. We were told she would not make it through the night and I just couldn't accept it; I didn't believe it. But the nightmare began and my sister kept declining until she gave her last breath and she slipped away. My sister suffered with pain that not many would be able to endure, and she still smiled. She still managed to find the silver lining in any situation. If she was hospitalized and someone shared a room with her, she made it a point to befriend them because she knew they may be in worse pain than she was. She was a warrior and although she is no longer here, in my eyes she won because she fought till her very last breath; she never gave up even when she wanted to. In her words, as she volunteered at Mission Care Rehabilitation center. "The good Lord brought me through Mission's doors, where angels work to save my life. And I stay to earn my wings someday too." - Rosie Unzueta, Volunteer R.I.Paradise Rosie, you are loved and missed.