Lisa Colton Cancer Foundation

Sitting in her hospital bed she looked so frail, she started to cry as I made my way over to her "I'm scared" she admitted. I had never seen my mom look so vulnerable.  My rock, my hero, my best friend was about to battle for her life and I didn't know what to say or what I could do to comfort her. I broke down, and as I did she held me and told me it was ok. On the day my mom was told she had Stage 4 lung cancer, she held and comforted me, because that's what moms do. That's what my mom has always done, she's done everything for everyone her entire life, and now she's about to fight for her life, and I've made it my mission to make sure that she doesn't do it alone.

It all started four years ago, with a nagging cough, a simple nodule was spotted and it turned out to be stage 1 lung cancer. The nodule was removed, lymph nodes were tested and a lobe of my moms lung was taken out. We thought that was that.

Throw back to six months ago, suspicious nodules were now found in both lungs, however it was too early to tell and the doctor wasn't concerned. Last month, the nagging cough returned, this time with a vengeance. My mom went for her normal check up and the CT results weren't pretty. There was massive amounts of fluid surrounding her heart and in part of her lung, and there were now other concerning spots. A week later and a day full of testing and we met up with the doctor again. The plan was surgery (ASAP). My mom was hospitalized for six days with a tube in her pericardium, and a slit in her throat where they removed and biopsied lymph nodes. The surgery and diagnoses was supposed to be simple, and we were hopeful.  After four days post- op the heart tube was pulled and my mom went into A-Fib. A PICC line was inserted and she received medications to control her heart rate. Which was just another thing on the plate.  The next day-  we got the news and it was the worst case scenario. The cancer that was once non-existent was now back, but had also metastized to the bone and the lymph nodes, also all of the fluid around her heart had been metastatic. The new plan of action was Radiation and aggressive chemotherapy. 

Today- Here I am, asking complete strangers for help. The last thing my mom should be worrying about is finances.  Our family and friends have been extremely supportive, but it will be quite a while before my mom is back to work as she is undergoing extensive chemo. She is the best human I've met, the hardest working single mom you could meet, and the most prideful person around and I’m willing to do anything and everything to make things easier for her during her treatments.   Our family has all been impacted as we are consumed by the cancer lifestyle- we  rotate taking days off to get her to her appointments, surgeries, and treatments and resources are  already starting to run thin.  So, today if you could spare your Starbucks coffee( It's hard I KNOW) your scratch off, or any other small item of comfort. We'd appreciate anything, especially prayers and well wishes. Thank you and god bless you with happiness and health.