*From Kim and Daniel’s GoFundMe Page* Our names are Kimberly and Daniel Escudero and, first and foremost, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time away from your already busy lives to read this. Desperate times call for desperate measures and we are in the throes of desperation trying to figure out a path forward in what has so far been a chaotic and whirlwind situation. Our mother, Divina, was diagnosed with Stage 3a non-small cell lung cancer roughly 4 1/2 years ago. She has never smoked, doesn’t drink, eats healthy meals, and has always led an active lifestyle. Needless to say, the diagnosis walloped all of us and came as a complete shock. She is the absolute glue and foundation that keeps both of our families together. Our 4-year old spent the better part of the last three years under her care while we both worked and our 16-month old was spending each day with her up until a few weeks ago. We are eternally grateful for how much she has been present and cared for both of our boys and it’s because of her that we’ve been able to continue working and do what we love. On top of all that, our mother always finds the energy and willpower to provide and care for her husband and disabled son each day graciously and selflessly. Outside of how much she works and cares for her family, she is also Kimberly’s best friend and such an important pillar of support in her life. The space she occupies in our world is immeasurable. Through unimaginable strength, prayer, and by God’s Grace, she beat her lung cancer and had been in remission for the last four years. We are now facing the possibility of that immense space being suddenly emptied and turned into a memory and just the thought of losing our mother is sending all of our realities into a gut-wrenching and terrifying spiral. On August 25th, the day before her birthday, she found out that she now has Stage 4 cancer that has spread to her spine and has already begun deteriorating her T6, T7 and T8 vertebrae. She has been unable to sleep laying down for the last 4+ months. Bear with us as we recount the last several months of what’s been going on: * About 5 months ago, she began feeling pain in her chest and spine. That pain grew to where she started having occasional coughing attacks, trouble sleeping, and shortness of breath. * The coughing became almost constant and the back pain increased. * The coughing became so back-to-back that she could barely catch her breath wheezing in between coughing attacks; she started coughing up bright red blood with simultaneous unbearable back pains. * Between June-August she went to the ER twice and spent nine days hospitalized where multiple tests finally produced the diagnosis of advanced stage 4 lung cancer with spread/damage to her spine Moving Forward: Right now, we are all at a loss as she faces an unbelievably difficult road ahead for treatment let alone survival. She is currently awaiting a PET scan to assess the full extent of the cancer in terms of spread. After that, she is hoping for a treatment plan. Surgery at this point (stage 4) appears to be a non-option due to the cancer spread and no way now to cut it all out. Hope and faith are all we have at the moment. Depending on what is revealed by the PET scan and other tests, we are hoping for: * Immunotherapy and/or chemotherapy * Worst case scenario…end-of-life care We are all hoping and praying for a miracle but are all ready to do whatever we can to help her get the best possible outcome and God will take care of the rest.