Final Expenses for Mary Francis McClure

In July of 2023, about a month and a half after losing my great-grandmother to cancer, my grandmother, Mary McClure, was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic colorectal cancer. We had taken her to the emergency room after a fall in our backyard when her CT scan results showed lesions on her liver. This is when we learned that primary liver cancer is uncommon and that we should see an oncologist for further testing. Any of her previous symptoms that her cancer could have brought on we had assumed to be attributed to her type II diabetes and/or the medication she was taking for it. We had been none the wiser this entire time.

We weren't able to properly grieve my grandma before we were forced to do it all over again.

Her doctor had assured us that she would be able to achieve remission, almost bragging about her success rate with her other patients with cancer. She told my mamaw point-blank that this wasn't something that would put her in hospice two years down the line. This wasn't the only time we were hassled throughout this ordeal, far from it, but that's a topic for another time. Meanwhile, after two hospital visits, her cancer spreading to her bones, and two different rehab/nursing home stints, my mamaw's health only continued to decline.

On Monday, January 22, 2024, after a six-month battle, my mamaw passed away in our home.

My mother and I did not learn until after her diagnosis that my mamaw had no life insurance.

My mamaw was already not in ideal health before we found out she had cancer, which is why I had been staying at home ever since I graduated college in December of 2022. My mom worried that something would happen while she was at work, so I volunteered to watch over things while she was gone. I had just begun to look for work when my mamaw got her diagnosis, meaning that I was going to have to continue to stay home with her in case something happened and I needed to call my mom or get an ambulance for her, for example.

My mother has, essentially, been the sole provider for this household as far as bills and utilities go for the last year. My mamaw paid our house payments with her social security, and I was more or less her caregiver during the last year of her life.

This brings us to where we are today. We have already had to scrap our original plans due to excessive financial burden. With monthly expenses piling up and searching for a job on my end, the stress this is causing us is becoming far too much to handle. My mother is running herself ragged over the thought of her mother being stuck in a funeral home for who knows how many weeks until we're able to come up with the funds for her burial. Any donation that comes our way would help lift the burden just that much off of our shoulders. If you are unable to donate, sharing this page would be highly appreciated.

Thank you for reading, and take care.

(P.S. Apologies for the low-quality picture. My mamaw despised having her picture taken, so we don't have that many pictures of her in general - let alone by herself. Might change it later if I'm able.)