A MUM-of-two has been forced to plan her own funeral after going to a doctor with shoulder injury – only to receive a shocking cancer diagnosis.
Doctors told Erika Diarte-Carr, now 33, that she had developed a highly aggressive form of small cell lung carcinoma – or Lung cancer – three years ago.
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Diarte-Carr received the tragic news just one day before Mother’s Day in 2022 when she went to a hospital to get her shoulder pain treated.
Since then, the mum began her treatments to cure the dangerous form of cancer, including multiple surgeries, biopsies, radiation and painful chemotherapy treatments.
However, she stopped receiving her treatments in September this year after she realised they were no longer effective.
Doctors tragically told her she had just three months to live.
Diarte-Carr said: “Three months (is all I have) to spend with my babies and loved ones. (Just) three months to make the best of what time I have left.”
After learning about the shock cancer diagnosis in 2022, the mum began gaining weight rapidly – reaching more than 60 pounds within just weeks.
She soon began to experience other medical conditions including bone deterioration, high blood pressure, Moon Face and Type 2 Diabetes.
But the single mum of two kept working full time to feed her two children.
Diarte-Carr revealed the tragic moment when she realised she had a deadly cancer growing inside her body.
Speaking to ABC4, she said: “At that point, the damage had already been done. At that moment, my and my kids’ entire lives had changed forever.”
The mum also said she wanted to spend more time with her children without being sick from treatments and medications.
But she is now facing extreme difficulty in managing her finances after not working for months due to her health condition.
Diarte-Carr has now set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of $5,000 to help plan her funeral and spend more time with her family.
She wrote in the fundraiser: “Due to me not being able to work for months now I do not have any finances saved up or any life insurance set aside for this situation.
“If you could please donate or share anything would be appreciated.”
Sharing a heartbreaking picture, Diarte-Carr’s cousin Angelique Rivera said: “We are at a loss for words and could never say thank you enough.”
Diarte-Carr’s five-year-old daughter Ailiyah told ABC 4: “She’s special to us.”
The family are planning a camping trip, and they hope the children will be able to experience another Christmas with their mom, DailyMail reports.
What is small cell lung carcinoma?
SMALL lung carcinoma, or symply lung cancer, is the among the most common and dengerous from of cancer that afects people aroud the world.
Just one in 10 patients survive for a decade or more after being diagnosed and lung tumours make up 21 per cent of cancer deaths in the UK but only 13 per cent of cases.
Around 49,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year and 35,000 die from it.
The main reason that it is so deadly is that symptoms are not obvious in the early stages.
When signs do appear they may include:
- A cough that lasts three weeks or more, and may hurt
- Repeated chest infections
- Coughing up blood
- Breathlessness
- Unusual tiredness
The NHS does not routinely screen for lung cancer but is rolling out more tests to smokers and ex-smokers at high risk, in a bid to catch it earlier. Testing may involve X-rays and chest CT scans.
Smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer and accounts for about 70 per cent of cases.
The risk may also be higher for people who have inhaled other fumes or toxic substances at work, such as asbestos, coal smoke or silica.
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