WATCH ABOVE: Wisconsin mom battling terminal cancer is writing cards and letters for every important occasion she’ll miss in her young daughter’s life. Kate Pabich reports.
TORONTO – Going through life’s milestones after your parent has died can be a tough experience. One dying mother in Wisconsin is trying to lessen that burden by leaving pre-written messages for her four-year-old daughter to open in the future.
Heather McManamy, 34, a former research specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, announced to her Facebook friends in August that her Stage 2 breast cancer had returned. To make matters worse, she was now Stage 4 — treatments had been ineffective and the cancer had metastasized in her liver and bones.
The McFarland, Wisconsion native left her job in October and her family began to take advantage of their time together with the knowledge she was now in a race against time. A GoFundMe account raised over $27,000 in 10 months to help subsidize the medical expenses incurred and give the McManamy’s a bit of breathing room to enjoy fun bucket-list-type activities.
“Once you’re Stage 4 there is no cure,” she told WMTV. “The list I have of treatments to try is dwindling.”
As for how her daughter Brianna will handle life’s big moments after her mother has passed, Heather has been leaving messages, words of advice, in greeting cards and letters for ‘Bri’ to open at the appropriate time in the future.
She has written messages for all kinds of occasions: first tooth, 30th birthday, first baby… even her daughter’s wedding.
“That one was emotional, that was a tough one.”
Heather’s current goal is to watch her daughter begin kindergarten. Past that, she says she’s just glad she can be there for Brianna in the future.
“I want her to always know that I did everything I could possibly do to be here.”
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