My Mom's Battle Against Cancer

Hello, everyone! If you do not already know her, this is my beautiful and admirable mother, Susan Tapia. This is the most self-less woman I have ever known in my lifetime.  She is the loving mother of 3 children, including myself and two older brothers and the full-time caretaker of my grandmother who is on hospice care at her home in McHenry.  My mom's life and our entire family's life have drastically been altered over the past couple weeks as this morning she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, specifically an advanced form of adenocarcenoma.  A couple weeks ago, she was in a minor car accident that caused a question for concern.  This was the final push into making her agree to go to the emergency room to get checked out for symptoms that had been affecting her on day-to-day basis for months.  



Being in this position is not only scary for her but is extremely stressful, especially if something serious were to happen.  Her symptoms of dizziness, unsteadiness, and the trouble she had been having with other motor skills such as walking and writing finally had taken their toll on my mom's strength, and she NEEDED medical attention immediately.  CT scans/an MRI showed an innumberable amount of lesions on her brain and a mass on her lung.  After being hospitalized for seven days at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, she came home only knowing that she did indeed have lung cancer and radiation treatment would start immediately.  Without any knowledge of the kind of cancer or stage, all our family could do was hope for the best and find ways to finance her upcoming chemotherapy treatments.  My mom has kept the most positive and hopeful attitude through all of this, finding her strength through her faith in God.  

 Any and all donations are appreciated beyond measure.  However, what we need most is prayer; so please keep my mother, her health, and our family in your prayers. Thank you so much!

With love,

Alisha Tapia & Family