Be Part of Ester’s Battle Against Cancer

My mom has never backed down from a fight. She’s a warrior. She is a protector. She protects her kids, her grandkids, family friends … she’s your biggest cheerleader and your proudest mom. She’s everyone’s mom and everyone’s friend. If you know Ester, you know her energy is infectious and she always greets you with a smile and a loud greeting.

On March 28th, our mom had a routine biopsy in her liver after experiencing some discomfort in her abdomen for just under a year. The biopsy was scheduled after numerous other tests were administered and there was a growing concern of her results. Following her biopsy, everything was normal until later that evening when she experienced excruciating pain in the area of the procedure and was taken by ambulance to Northwest Community Hospital. From there, a lengthy journey of trying to treat her pain progressed to further issues. A hematoma was discovered, oxygen and blood pressure was low and unstable, an infection, gall bladder stone, intubation and a need for dialysis put her in the ICU for 7 days. By then it had been 12 days until she was finally out of intensive care and we still had yet to know the results of the biopsy that put her there in the first place.

It was not good news. Cancer cells had been detected, however, without the direction of her PCP we were still in the unknown of what a plan would be to treat her cancer. To make matters challenging, Ester was severely deconditioned and extremely weak. Essentially we needed to make her stronger again in order to begin any path out of cancer.

It will be nearly a month since our mom was admitted and she’s finally heading out the door of the rehab facility where she’s been doing occupational and physical therapy daily.

During this time we have been addressing her bills, rallying her doctors, meeting with new doctors, speaking with social workers, organizing home care and transportation, purchasing medical equipment to help her live something close to the normal life she had before…and we haven’t even begun with cancer treatments yet.

The journey ahead is about to be a long one. With your donations, you’ll be providing our mom, your mom, with peace of mind so that the only thing she has to worry about is her fight against cancer. Her bills will be paid, her fridge will be full, there’ll be gas in the tank, her home will be maintained, her meds and all her homecare will be paid for. Even if it’s a little, even if it’s a note of encouragement- your well wishes, prayers and gifts have all made a huge difference to our mother’s recovery. We hope you continue to light a candle for her ongoing journey.