Hospice means end of life care, not end of wishes
Donation protected
All of our lives have changed in just five short months. Our mom Sandra went to the emergency room July 2nd due to coughing up blood, shortness of breath and severe headaches. They found a lot of scar tissue in her left lung and blood. They let her go home to enjoy the 4th of July and the next day we received a phone call confirming that she had at the time what we thought was just lung cancer.
After a few more appointments she kept complaining of severe head pain and she requested that her head be rechecked. The medical team ordered some more scans and we received the heartbreaking news that it was worse than we had originally thought. It was stage 4 metastatic lung cancer, which means that her cancer had already spread out of her lungs into her liver, bones and blood stream.
Towards the end of July and early August she was going to weekly appointments with different doctors dealing with the multiple areas that her cancer had spread, to see what was the best plan of treatment for prolonging her quality of life. Mid-August, she began radiation treatment on her head. After her final treatment, she became very tired, weak and had a loss of appetite.
On September 4th, she celebrated her 59thbirthday and ten days after that her daughters 31st. Those were some of her best days in these last five months.
On October 3rd, she took her first fall at home and she was having trouble remembering what day it was. We rushed her back to the hospital and we were informed that her left lung was completely collapsed and her calcium level was at a 13, due to the cancer pulling calcium out of her bones into her blood stream. At this point we realized how fast the cancer was spreading throughout her body and how limited we were becoming in plans of treatment. After plenty of fluids and antibiotics she got discharged about two weeks later.
On October 24th, she was back in the emergency room. This time her calcium was at a 15, her left lung was still completely collapsed, she had developed pneumonia in her right lung and a urinary tract infection. All of this made her super weak and caused her memory loss and hallucinations. At this point the doctors were very concerned that we were going to lose her or she would not come out of this but we kept our hope alive and we were her voice when she could not be. After weeks of fluids, more antibiotics and two blood transfusions she came around and voiced that she wanted to continue her fight, at this point we had two options left. One option was to undergo a surgery to put a stent in her left lung in hopes of opening it up. Unfortunately, when surgery was performed they were unable to get the stent in due to the growth of the tumor. She wanted to continue with her second option which was to try and do radiation on her left lung in hopes of shrinking the tumor. She spent two weeks being transported in an ambulance every day to undergo radiation treatments. She had two treatments left and it was recommended that she be discharged out of the hospital to a new outpatient nursing facility. During this very short time at the new nursing facility my mother’s health rapidly declined and within 48 hours she was admitted back to the hospital once again
After arriving to the hospital this final time, the doctors talked with our family and informed us that at the rate her cancer had spread there was no longer any viable treatment that would help prolong or treat her condition. We decided as a family to not follow through with the last two radiation treatments, because at this point it was not going to do anything to prolong her life, it would only add to the stress already put on her body. Since the hospital was no longer treating her and just making her comfortable they gave us two options, send her back to the nursing facility where she rapidly declined, or send her home to be placed on a hospice program, either way it was clear that no more treatment would take place and we needed to help her decide where she wanted her to spend her final days.
Our families goal through this Go fund Me, is to obtain the funds to meet our dying mother’s wish of spending her remaining days at home, surrounded by her loved ones and not in a nursing facility. Her insurance covers the hospice but that does not include any outside care, to make this wish happen we estimate that to we need to raise about $40,000.00. The bulk of the money is to pay a caregiver to assist our mother who is now unable to walk and is bed bound, and not able to use the restroom on her own. This will provide for $26.00 an hour, 10-hour days, every day for the next estimated four months, but truly her life expectancy remains in God’s hands. Any remaining funds will go to her burial costs and her celebration of life.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our mom’s journey with cancer and we deeply appreciate any help you can provide towards the end of her life and honoring her wish to be at home.
Sincerely her children James, Branda and Zac.
Brief Update, December 8, 2019
Thanks to everyone for all your support. Unfortunately, not even 24 hours after we got our mom home on hospice and the GoFundMe page set up, our mother Sandra Passed away. There is no longer need for the support in finding a home caregiver. We decided to leave the GoFundMe open to help with any further expenses including burial, medical bills and her end of life celebration.
After a few more appointments she kept complaining of severe head pain and she requested that her head be rechecked. The medical team ordered some more scans and we received the heartbreaking news that it was worse than we had originally thought. It was stage 4 metastatic lung cancer, which means that her cancer had already spread out of her lungs into her liver, bones and blood stream.
Towards the end of July and early August she was going to weekly appointments with different doctors dealing with the multiple areas that her cancer had spread, to see what was the best plan of treatment for prolonging her quality of life. Mid-August, she began radiation treatment on her head. After her final treatment, she became very tired, weak and had a loss of appetite.On September 4th, she celebrated her 59thbirthday and ten days after that her daughters 31st. Those were some of her best days in these last five months.
On October 3rd, she took her first fall at home and she was having trouble remembering what day it was. We rushed her back to the hospital and we were informed that her left lung was completely collapsed and her calcium level was at a 13, due to the cancer pulling calcium out of her bones into her blood stream. At this point we realized how fast the cancer was spreading throughout her body and how limited we were becoming in plans of treatment. After plenty of fluids and antibiotics she got discharged about two weeks later.On October 24th, she was back in the emergency room. This time her calcium was at a 15, her left lung was still completely collapsed, she had developed pneumonia in her right lung and a urinary tract infection. All of this made her super weak and caused her memory loss and hallucinations. At this point the doctors were very concerned that we were going to lose her or she would not come out of this but we kept our hope alive and we were her voice when she could not be. After weeks of fluids, more antibiotics and two blood transfusions she came around and voiced that she wanted to continue her fight, at this point we had two options left. One option was to undergo a surgery to put a stent in her left lung in hopes of opening it up. Unfortunately, when surgery was performed they were unable to get the stent in due to the growth of the tumor. She wanted to continue with her second option which was to try and do radiation on her left lung in hopes of shrinking the tumor. She spent two weeks being transported in an ambulance every day to undergo radiation treatments. She had two treatments left and it was recommended that she be discharged out of the hospital to a new outpatient nursing facility. During this very short time at the new nursing facility my mother’s health rapidly declined and within 48 hours she was admitted back to the hospital once againAfter arriving to the hospital this final time, the doctors talked with our family and informed us that at the rate her cancer had spread there was no longer any viable treatment that would help prolong or treat her condition. We decided as a family to not follow through with the last two radiation treatments, because at this point it was not going to do anything to prolong her life, it would only add to the stress already put on her body. Since the hospital was no longer treating her and just making her comfortable they gave us two options, send her back to the nursing facility where she rapidly declined, or send her home to be placed on a hospice program, either way it was clear that no more treatment would take place and we needed to help her decide where she wanted her to spend her final days.
Our families goal through this Go fund Me, is to obtain the funds to meet our dying mother’s wish of spending her remaining days at home, surrounded by her loved ones and not in a nursing facility. Her insurance covers the hospice but that does not include any outside care, to make this wish happen we estimate that to we need to raise about $40,000.00. The bulk of the money is to pay a caregiver to assist our mother who is now unable to walk and is bed bound, and not able to use the restroom on her own. This will provide for $26.00 an hour, 10-hour days, every day for the next estimated four months, but truly her life expectancy remains in God’s hands. Any remaining funds will go to her burial costs and her celebration of life.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our mom’s journey with cancer and we deeply appreciate any help you can provide towards the end of her life and honoring her wish to be at home.
Sincerely her children James, Branda and Zac.
Brief Update, December 8, 2019
Thanks to everyone for all your support. Unfortunately, not even 24 hours after we got our mom home on hospice and the GoFundMe page set up, our mother Sandra Passed away. There is no longer need for the support in finding a home caregiver. We decided to leave the GoFundMe open to help with any further expenses including burial, medical bills and her end of life celebration.
Organizer
Branda Codispoti
Organizer
Orange, CA