PLEASE HELP MY MOM

Hi, my name is Kevin and I'm trying to raise funds for my Mom, Laurie Shaw (pic above). She's not only the coolest and kindest Mom you'd ever meet, but also the most generous. I say this because I've seen her give a man her last $5 when he asked if she could spare any money. I asked her why she gave up the only money she had till pay day, and she said "I ate today, he might not have". I also witnessed her week after week bring a bag of fruits, drinks and sometimes toiletries to a homeless man who sat in the same place with his sign asking for help every day. These are just two of many examples of times my Mom has shown love, compassion and generosity to total strangers, and now she needs our help.

Two weeks before Christmas she was diagnosed with lung cancer. At the time, according to her CT-Scan, they thought they were dealing with Stage 1 only, and surgery removing the upper right quadrant of the lung, where the mass was located, would end it, and life would go on.

That's not what happened. Because of one thing after another, like having to rule out a blood clot and then finding a blockage in her heart, the surgery she so desperately needed was delayed for two months. She finally had it done two weeks ago at St. Mary's Medical Center, where she works as a Unit Clerk in the ER, and said everyone treated her with kindness, but also had some very bad news for her. The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and is now at Stage 2 (at least).

My Mom has been out of work since the day of the diagnosis due to all the testing and, of course the surgery. She now needs chemo and after that immunotherapy, which means she'll be out for quite a bit longer. She's trying to pay her bills with the money she gets from disability, which isn't much, and all the tests, surgery and inpatient bills are already well into the thousands. She does have insurance through the hospital, but I'm talking about the co-pays. For example, just one day of tests, the echocardiogram and stress test, which were needed pre-op, came to a co-pay of a little over $2,000. I can't imagine what it's going to be for the rest of the tests, the surgery and subsequent inpatient hospital stay, along with the chemo, immunotherapy, medications, etc to keep my Mom alive. Please help her, Everyone keeps telling her that the way to beat this thing is to stay positive and keep a good attitude, but it's hard to do those things when you're drowning in debt, and each time you go to a doctor's appointment or treatment, they ask for a payment that you just don't have.