Sharon's Final Flight in Life

November 21, 2016 began like any other day for Sharon Riesselman as she headed off to work at Focus Communications.  After a few hours at work her speech began to slur, her memory was foggy, and she began feeling very confused.  Worried that she was having the onset of a stroke she left work to go to the Emergency Room.  After a long day of testing she was diagnosed with Uterine Cancer. They also were also able to see a tumor in her stomach, lesions on her lungs, and a tumor on her brain which is what was causing the memory and speech issues.  Sharon was referred to Iowa City where further testing revealed that the cancer had spread through her whole body; due to the severity and amount of Cancer she was given a terminal diagnosis. 

The doctors advised going through radiation in order to keep the brain tumor from growing and to help with inflammation.   They started this right away and she underwent 5 treatments.  Sharon’s memory became clearer and her speech was back to normal.  After her rounds of radiation she started chemo to treat the rest of the cancer in her body.  The doctors told her that as long as she tolerated the chemo and it didn’t affect her quality of life they could continue.  Sharon reacted to the chemo very positively and for awhile she was feeling great. 

Around Easter her health started to quickly deteriorate.  What she thought was sciatic nerve pain was actually pain from the cancer that had moved into her spine.  She became bedridden and a prisoner in her own home.  Sharon was hospitalized to receive 24 hour care and assistance with pain management.  We hoped Sharon would regain her strength and independence in order to return home; however, after one treatment of radiation on her spine she was transferred to Care Initiatives for rehabilitation and was physically unable to regain any strength.  As of Friday May 5th, Sharon is in the care of Hospice and has been given anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks before her cancer will win the battle. 

Sharon has always had an amazing work ethic and has worked full time her whole life, supporting herself and eventually Emily, her 17 year old daughter.  Emily is a Junior at Dubuque Senior High School, is a great basketball player for the Dubuque Senior Rams, and has always been a wonderful student.  In her early years Sharon worked for Mount St. Frances, and is probably remembered most by people from her jobs working at Kay Jewelers and the Big Ten Mart on JFK in Dubuque.

Unfortunately, Sharon does not have any Life Insurance.  As her family, we would like to give her a proper burial.  We have set up this Go Fund Me Account to raise money specifically for her funeral.   Any excess funds will go towards her daughter Emily’s care and to support her while she finishes High School and goes off to college.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  Cancer is a horrible disease.  So many people have been affected personally by this disease and have lost a loved one or friend.  Please consider helping Sharon and her daughter Emily.

Thanks the Riesselman Family.