Hello all. I sit here watching the cursor blink as I try to fathom how we even got to this point. My mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Lung Cancer less than a month ago, only six years after we lost my father to a very long struggle with his heart. Losing him at 26 I thought that was going to be my heartbreak, my devastating loss. Let me introduce my mother, Benita Schilling. My hard-working, compassionate, funny, loving, incredible mother. March 2024 she begged for a chest x-ray because she was having trouble breathing, had wheezing and felt worn out. Her doctor told her it was most likely allergies but did the x-ray anyways. CHEST X-RAY: "Unremarkable". Fast forward to early June, still struggling to breathe, I brought her to an immediate care where she was diagnosed with pneumonia after another chest x-ray showed a large "foggy area". June 18th she awoke to severe pain on the left side of her chest. After another trip to the immediate care she was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. Chest x-ray, blood work, CT scan. Hours of waiting. "Okay Ms. Schilling, so you have a couple things going on. Your pneumonia is definitely worse and you have lung cancer. So..." I heard nothing after that. She has never smoked, rarely drank, ate healthy. It just did not make sense. She was then sent by ambulance to Rush Hospital where after biopsies, x-rays, ct scans, and bloodwork we were told two days later that she has Stage 4 Metastatic Lung Cancer. It has already spread to her brain, spine and lymph nodes. The only hope is a clinical trial gene mutation medication. Now the important stuff - Benita Schilling is someone that deserves the world. I know a lot of people say that about their family members but if you knew her, you would agree. At 33 years old my father had his first heart attack in the middle of a basketball game. Every second after that very point in time, my mother worked herself to the bone while still taking care of my brother and me. She has spent her ENTIRE life taking care of others every chance she could get. Most of my childhood is memories of her working all day and then typing appraisals until the late hours of the night, only to wake up and do it all over again to help provide for our family since my father's heart was so bad. Four massive heart attacks, five heart bypasses, a coma, an artificial heart, two heart transplants...then I held his hand on December 21st, 2016, only two months after I became a mother, while his life support was shut off and I felt him slip away. My mother has been my rock. My everything. I joined the Army at 17 years old because she said I was strong enough to prove that I could do ANYTHING I put my mind to. Even now, she still calls me her “little soldier". The letters she sent me got me through it all. Her strength got me through the hardest times. Her love got me through motherhood. Her wisdom got me through impossibilities.Her existence has gotten me through life. She taught me how to fight. Now it's my turn to fight for her. I ask for your prayers. I ask for your faith that she can stay with us. The doctors say I have maybe 2-5 years with her. Any donations will help with her medical bills and we are hoping that we can raise enough that she can finally stop working and solely focus on her health. At 69 with Stage 4 Cancer, I wanted her to stop working full time. I want her to see that there is more to life than just working until you're called to heaven. I want her to be able to keep her 900 sq ft house that she calls her sanctuary. God bless all of the people who have been so kind and helpful to my mother. I am forever in your debt. Thank you.
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