Maria Carrasco

A little bit about my mother, Maria:  She was born and raised in Mexico.  All of her relatives are still in Mexico till this day as she is the only one currently in the U.S. from her family. She came to the U.S. at the age of eighteen in the late 70s and got her citizenship in early 80s. She got married to my late father around the same time she came into the U.S. My later father was forty-four years old at that time which is a huge age difference (just a bit older!) and to top it off he had 10 additional kids. My mom had three beautiful children with my father: Myself (Miriam), Jorge and Ariana.  She divorced my father sometime in the late 90s and remarried to my stepfather, Jaime – who is best stepdad ever! With this union we inherited three stepsiblings.    

My mom has worked very hard on her own to reach many goals that many immigrants try to reach to better their families here in the U.S.  She is a hard working grandmother, wife, friend and most of all a wonderful mom.  She is the joy of the party anywhere she goes and always has a place for anyone that comes into her home.  Even though my mom’s family is in Mexico she has found her way into everyone’s heart through her co-workers and our family friends.  There is no way how to express the kindness and wisdom my mom has and what she has gone through to make it this far without a single bad word to say about anyone.   

Mom was recently diagnosed with Stage III Occult Breast Cancer on September 2, 2016.  Doctors at Loyola at the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center had detected that something was off in early August, because of some swollen lymph nodes near her neck and underneath her arm. The doctors at Loyola performed several tests, but were unable to find anything until they did an MRI and biopsy to confirm their suspicions of breast cancer.  This was a shock to my family because we never imagined for mom to have any type cancer, since there is no history of cancer in her family.  Doctors at Loyola recommended she undergo chemotherapy first and see how it goes.  She is going once every three weeks for 18 weeks.  Her first session of chemotherapy was last week, October 10 2016.  

My mom has been very strong and we want you to help us by giving her the motivation she deserves and the love that you have always had for her.  As a family we are still learning and trying to comprehend all of this so if you have any good resources please share, we will like to know.  My family is really grateful for the support of all our family, friends and coworkers.  We ask that you keep on supporting my mom, but also please support your local cancer charities for more research to cure this disease.  We need to fight this cancer; we have to find a cure!  

My mom is known to be the main cook in our family. Believe it or not my mom has always hated being in the kitchen (that’s our little secret!) but since she had to feed her children she eventually got used to it. Unfortunately, with chemo in progress now, she can’t even stand the smell of certain food. Through the years mom’s cooking became a sensation through our family, friends and coworkers. Now with the chemo she is unable to enjoy that type of food or even walk into a kitchen and this is only the beginning.  She is known for the best arroz con gandules, Spanish turkey stew and many other amazing home cooked meals!

We will keep you posted on her progress as we go through this journey together with mom,


Love & Prayers,
Miriam & Vani