Susanna’s Story
Connections that last for Infinity
Susanna was a strong, loving, and beautiful person both inside and out. She was a friend to many and always made time to look out for friends and family. She constantly sought ways to stay fit, healthy, and exercised regularly. She was married to her high school sweetheart, Brooks, with whom she shared four kids: Preston, Landon, Braydon, and Brooklyn, ranging in age from 17 to 10 at the time of her diagnosis.
Susanna suffered from persistent back pain for over a year, which continued to worsen over time. When seeking medical attention, she was advised to continue exercising and explore conservative care options such as chiropractors and massages. As things worsened, she began to experience difficulty breathing and discovered that she had fluid building up in her lungs. In late 2020, she was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer at the age of 44. The cancer had already started to spread to the rest of her body, including her lungs and spine. She received the devastating news that she had less than a year to live. Her world was turned upside down, but she was determined to fight and beat it.
Susanna started taking cancer treatment medications, but unfortunately, they wreaked havoc on her body, and she didn't tolerate them well.
She suffered immensely as the cancer continued to spread. She sought out various alternative medicine treatments, but they were all out-of-pocket expenses. Her out of pocket expenses included alternative medicine treatments with infusions, weekly vitamin IV injections, Rife Frequency treatments, and daily TKM Therapy home visits. She was determined to win this battle and even considered traveling to other states or countries to consult with different cancer specialists for additional or experimental treatments, but the costs were prohibitive. Some alternative treatments required purchasing equipment, some of which cost over $30,000. While these treatments gave her hope, she spent a significant amount of money, which greatly impacted their daily family expenses.
Ensuring that all her children received a Catholic education was very important to her. Susanna was working two jobs to help support her children's private education. As her pain increased and she lost strength to perform daily activities, she could no longer work full time and lost her promoted position within her company. However, she had to continue working part-time because she carried her health insurance policy. She reached a point where she could hardly sit and work at her laptop for more than a few minutes. Susanna and Brooks, like most families, didn't have the financial ability to cover the additional medical costs while also earning less income. The added stress and concern were a significant part of their life as they tried to provide for their family and cover monthly bills, including a mortgage and private education tuition for their four children.
Susanna was fortunate to have a large support system from family and friends. She was loved and respected by many, including her community and church family. While she was sick, she received overwhelming support spiritually and financially, as well as through meal trains and more. Many people were ready and willing to help in any way they could during her difficult battle. Family and friends gathered to pray for her every week. Her husband, Brooks, took off a significant amount of work to attend doctors’ meetings, hospital stays and surgical procedures. Her family was by her side as much as possible, even during her difficult hospital stays. Since Susanna's parents had already passed away, she was fortunate to have seven siblings to be by her side and assist her with anything she needed.
She relied heavily on her four sisters throughout her battle. They sat by her side during her alternative medical treatments and helped her kids with whatever they needed. It was important to Susanna that her husband and kids tried to maintain as normal a life as possible while she battled cancer.
In August 2021, just nine months after her diagnosis, Susanna passed away. She fought bravely, but unfortunately, she couldn't overcome this significant battle with kidney cancer, which had metastasized to her lungs and spine over the course of her brief fight.
