Help my mom fight cancer.

My sweet mom, Ruth Sykora, has spent over half of her life helping others in their battle with disease. A massage therapist who has devoted decades of her own life standing on her feet day in and day out, so that her patients can live a healthy and pain free life. She has massaged people with every illness and ailement you could imagine. From cancer to cystic fibrosis, scoliosis to bicycle accidents, post surgery patients to people at home in hospice, her massage table has seen it all. And now, she is facing a new role of being a patient herself.

Last Thursday, June 29th, I got a call from my mom. She had a biopsy of her bladder a few weeks prior after a year of painful symtoms. "Honey, I checked MyChart and they want me to come in for a more intensive biopsy and ablasion of my bladder. Does this mean what I think it means?". This was the start of a very long conversation that I never thought I would have to have with her. She has been a vegan for nearly 4 decades, never drank alcohol, and raised us on tofu and organic vegetables. She lost both of her parents to cancer - her dad lost his battle to bladder cancer - so health was a TOP priority in our home.

While most other 60 something year olds are starting to come out of the work force and think about retirement, my mom is still full steam ahead. She just completed a 2.5 year course in meditation, in hopes to further her career in helping others heal. For context - we just scheduled her surgery for Wednesday July 5th, and her only question was if she could work the very next day. And the biggest upset to her has been 1. that there is anything but healthy cells in her body. and 2. me telling her she needs to at the very least take the rest of the week off.

This surgery is hugely important, as it will tell us how invasive her tumor is, if it has spread, what her treatment regimen will be. Bladder cancer in females is unfortunately missed by doctors and misdiagnosed a lot of the time since it's symptoms mimic UTIs, cystitis, prolapse, etc. We are so thankful that the doctors finally caught it and that they are getting my mom in for surgery less than a week after her results from the first biopsy came in. That being said, this has come as a massive shock to our entire family. This first surgery alone is a huge cost (about $45,000) and the bills are also starting to be thrown at her from the past few weeks of ER trips, doctor's visits, etc. She is the most selfless and empathetic person you could ever meet and would never ask for anything from anyone, but I am hoping to help ease just the littlest bit of stress from her. For everyone she has ever helped, now is the time to rally around her and support her in her time of need.

Please share with friends/family, and send love and thoughts her way.

Love you mom,

Lily