Please Help my Mom to Confidently Smile Again

Hi, my name is Daisie. I am to the right of the photo. That woman is my mother, Rhonda, for who I am raising this fundraiser. This picture was taken in December of 2021 a week before I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This day was so important to me because she got to be there for it. Throughout my college term, I would worry about if the most important person in my life would get to watch me meet one of my most significant accomplishments. In 2018, my mom was diagnosed with stage III non-small cell lung cancer. She underwent radiation and chemotherapy for a year, then went into remission! They continued her on immunotherapy, but three months after they took her off, the lung cancer spread to her adrenal gland and psoas muscle. Those areas were radiated on and have been treated. In October of 2020, re-occurring headaches began. I spoke with her doctor to get an MRI set up, but her oncologist at the time told me that insurance would not cover it and that he did not think it was necessary. However, the headaches continued in January of 2021, when life changed drastically for us. My mom was lying in bed almost every day with headaches. I could not keep watching this, so I scheduled an appointment with her oncologist again and insisted on an MRI. The same day, they sent us over to the hospital for scans due to her symptoms being viewed as "stroke-like." Once they brought her back from scans, we waited patiently, praying for good news. The radiologist entered the room and told us that the MRI showed five brain metastasis that had spread from her lung cancer. This day undoubtedly was the worst day of my life. I looked toward my mom as my eyes filled with tears; she smiled and said everything would be okay. She held herself together as I was falling apart; that showed me that we would get through this together. My mom is so beautiful. Her long blonde hair, a smile that radiates, her powerful energy, and her laugh bring out the best in her. I had to watch those things slowly go away. We were told that if she had three or fewer lesions, then they could operate to remove them. However, having five would take away too much of her brain and radiation was the only option. Within that month, she started on full brain radiation. As time went on, she lost her hair. Her gums became weak, resulting in decay and missing teeth. Everyday she struggles with her balance and naturally, her body will make her walk to the left or she frequently stumbles on her feet. She struggles to walk every day, but I am there to catch her during her weakest times. She is my woman, the strongest and most selfless person I know. She has held me up, made me realize how precious time is, and how someone could find happiness in their darkest moments. I am here to ask for help with her medical and dental bills and recover from money loss during these hard times. As of now, two of the five metatasis have grown and recently we found out that she has three aneurysms in her brain which can only be monitored and has had a mild stroke. This all combined causes daily headaches for her. I just want my mom to be free of pain and to feel beautiful again. I know that one of those ways will be for her to be able to smile again with a new set of teeth. Her smile is her best feature. I would do anything for her to gain that confidence again. Cancer destroys.