Mom was on vacation when everything started. They just kept saying it was a cold. After going back and forth to the hospitals, they kept her overnight to run tests. While I was in the bathroom, Mom tried to get to back in the bed and fell. She knocked herself out and broke a tooth. She was having a hard time breathing. The doctor did a scope to look around and that is when they saw the masses in the lung blocking all three routes in the lung. This is when they placed her on the vent. My mom was not expected to survive. While she was on the breathing machine, my family flew out because doctors said she didn't have much time left. My brother was being deployed and he requested that they start treatment. We had to fight for treatment because at that stage she's on a ventilator and they didn't want to do anything.
She had a slim chance, but my mom's a fighter. After a battle, they agreed to start her chemo, but we had to find a doctor that would do it. Soon she was off of the vent and able to go home with my aunt and start with procedures to help her lung cancer. After months of therapy, Mom is in remission. She has fought so many illnesses to still be here today. My mom has never given up and we have never given up on her. That is why I work every day to advance the quality of healthcare for all lung patients as a respiratory therapist. I work harder for them because I've been there.
