Hello all,
This is going to be a fundraiser for my mom. She was hospitalized in the morning of April 26th after being outside and suddenly feeling forgetful at first. My stepdad had rushed her over to St John’s right away. The doctors had let us know that she was having a small stroke in her brain. They were in contact with a neurologist from UofM Fairview East Bay. The neurologist had explained a small procedure of trying to make space from a blood clot in her brain, she would have to go through and get performed to get better. After a short while of being at St John’s, they called for an ambulance to get her transported over. As soon as she got there, they let us know she was stable until the night as we waited countless hours. Little did I know that would be the last night I ever heard my mom’s voice. I let her know that I would be going right back the next day to see her and stay all day or however many days they required her to stay. She smiled and said “Okay.”, as I told her she’s gonna be fine. Later on in that early morning, my younger brother texted me that the doctors had let my stepdad know that her brain was swelling too much. She needed an immediate surgery to make room for her brain swelling because of the tight space. The solution they offered was to remove the right side of her skull to decompress the swelling and have it go down. The surgeon that did the surgery had let us know that morning that hopefully she’ll be alright, which in return gave us hope. We wouldn’t know until later on that afternoon that she wouldn’t be awake because of the medication for the surgery. I sat bedside to her as many times as I could. I talked to her more than I had in the short visits I had had with her in the past. We had really hoped she would open her eyes and reply back to us just once. Days past and soon came the day that none of us would ever have thought of come and take away the one that we loved. In the morning of, April 29th, 2025, the doctors held the last family-doctor meeting. He had taken an MRI of my mom’s brain the night before. Her condition had worsened the last couple of days and her stroke had started moving over to the other side of her brain…just how the doctor feared it would. Letting us know, if she does recover from this, she will most likely be bedridden for the rest of her life since this stroke affected her motor functions on her entire left side of her body with very very limited movements. He had let us know that this was the very first of its kind and that the rate of this condition was so abnormal and rapid changing….he didn’t know of any other solution. We all cried and teared together as this news was something we all have inevitably wanted to avoid hearing or discussing about. We all had to make a choice, the best choice for my mom to leave in peace. That afternoon, we had all had to make the hardest choice I’ve ever had to agree to. From the very first day of being in the hospital up until the very last moment. I had been the most upset, furious, and enraged about everything going on. The most strugglesome was, there wasn’t a single thing I could do to help my mom. The one that had given me life, blood, and skin to this cruel and unfair world….left my family and I without a word. As I cried and cried begging for my mommy to awake with her eyes open and reply to me just once. But…no response.
I had held off on this fundraiser to try and not face the truth of this cruel world’s act upon my family. But, I know it’ll never go away and the traumatizing pain and suffering my family and I are still going through will never leave us behind. I just ask sincerely that, any amount, even the smallest donated will help contribute to my mommy’s funeral and all other related costs.
She was born into our family on July 15th, 1978 by my grandparents, Ge Yang and Mai Houa Xiong. My mom, Mai Yang, is survived by my grandparents Ge, Mai H., brothers Hue, Cha, Moua, Keng, and sister Christine, my stepdad, as well as my younger siblings, Justin, Jordon, baby sister Vanessa, and myself.