GLORIA'S STORY

The Sunshine Movement was created as a way to honor my mom, Gloria. My hope is that by sharing her story and spreading awareness, that we can help others to know the symptoms and live the long healthy lives that they deserve. 

    

Here is my mom's story... 

 

My mom was 54 in 2019 and was relatively healthy. She went to check-ups frequently, was a healthy weight, not a smoker, and took good care of herself. In the fall of 2019, she began to have back pain. As a dental assistant, this was not unusual as she was constantly bent over. But as I mentioned, my mom was very on top of doctor's appointments. She brought this up to different specialists time and time again. She tried different things to help with the pain but nothing was working. In early 2020, the pain had not stopped and now she was having trouble going to the bathroom regularly. This was also brought up to doctors, some tests were done, medications prescribed but still, we had no answers.

After months of pain, being backed up, and eventually not being able to eat much at all, I took my mom to the ER in early March 2020. The PA working that night was determined to find an answer since no one else had. Unfortunately, it was not the answer that we wanted. My mom had pancreatic cancer. It had already spread.

We knew very little about pancreatic cancer at that point but we knew it was not good. I held her hand and tried not to cry. It was a shock to our family that no one could have predicted. My mom stayed in the hospital for about a week. This was the same week that things started to shut down across the country due to Covid-19. We saw a few doctors and learned to it was stage four cancer. After a failed stent operation, my mom decided to come home.

 

She was given two options. Intense chemotherapy which had a small chance to extend her life by a few months or to try to enjoy the rest of her time with us. She declined chemotherapy. Over the next few weeks, we saw glimpses of my mom still being herself: smiling, laughing, worrying about us. She was doing all that she could to make sure we would be fine without her. She even went as far as to cancel credit cards, pay bills off, order my dad new underwear and many other little things. She was selfless her entire life. We witnessed her fading away over the next few weeks. It was heartbreaking to watch. I tried to spend every second with her. At 25 years old, it hit me, she was truly my best friend. 

 

Exactly 8 weeks after her diagnosis, we lost my mom.

It was the shortest and longest 8 weeks of my life. Seeing her in pain every day made the days feel long but knowing our time was limited made the days feel way too short.

 

My mom was only 55 when she passed. I often think of that night at the ER and wonder if we knew more about pancreatic cancer that maybe, just maybe, we could have requested the right kind of testing months ago and given my mom more of a fighting chance.

 

I wish we could go back in time and ask for more opinions and stand up for her health. That is my reason behind starting this brand. That is my reason for wanting to spread awareness and spread positivity and sunshine, just like my mom did everyday.

 

I know that my mom would want nothing more than to help others have a better chance, or maybe to even have a little more time with their families than she did.

She deserved better. We all deserve better. Let's make this world a little better.