Utah mother-of-two, 33, is planning her own funeral after walking into ER with ‘shoulder injury’ and receiving devastating news
A mother of two is planning her own funeral after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, despite walking into the emergency room alone with a shoulder injury.
Erika Diarte-Carr, now 33, was diagnosed at the age of 30 with a very aggressive form of small cell lung carcinoma.
The single mother of five-year-old Ailiyah and seven-year-old Jeremiah discovered multiple metastatic tumors throughout her body.
‘At that moment the damage had already been done. In that moment, mine and my children’s entire lives were changed forever,” she said.
Erika Diarte-Carr, mother of two, went to the ER for what she thought was a normal shoulder injury, but left after being diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer
After being diagnosed with cancer, she was diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome two years later and by September this year her treatments were no longer effective.
Her diagnosis of Cushing’s disease led to a worsening of her condition after her treatment stopped, leaving her as ill as she is now
She received the devastating news just one day before Mother’s Day in 2022, before learning on January 17 this year that she also had Cushing’s syndrome.
This caused her to gain weight quickly, more than 60 pounds in a few weeks.
She suffered from deterioration of muscles and bones, high blood pressure, moon face and type 2 diabetes.
She told me ABC-4 that Cushing’s disease also prevents her from walking.
The single mother continued to work full-time for as long as possible, taking only two months off for appointments, surgeries, biopsies, radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
“I felt ashamed that people knew the truth that I kept this a secret for as long as possible,” she wrote in one GoFundMe page“but the physical effects are starting to take over, and I can no longer hide it.”
The treatments stopped when her scans started to improve, but her Cushing’s disease dramatically affected her health and quality of life in the following months.
She says Cushing’s disease is one of the main reasons her health deteriorated to where she is today.
She stopped her treatments in September as they were no longer effective, and was told she had only three months to live.
“Three months to spend with my babies and loved ones,” she wrote, “three months to make the most of the time I have left.”
“Three months to spend with my babies and loved ones,” Diarte-Carr wrote, “three months to make the most of the time I have left.”
She started a fundraiser asking for help in any way possible, with a goal of $5,000 on GoFundMe for her funeral and to help her children after her death
Diarte-Carr explained that she wanted to spend time with her children without getting sick from treatments and medications.
She says all her energy is now focused on her children, and she wanted to “just make the most of it” in the time left.
She was now faced with the difficult task of planning her own funeral and ensuring that her children would be cared for.
She asked for help in any way she could and launched the page with a goal of $5,000 to be used for her funeral expenses and support for her children after her death. The fundraising campaign has since surpassed $750,000.
‘Because I have not been able to work for months, I have not saved any money and have not reserved any life insurance for this situation. If you can please donate or share it would be appreciated,” she said.
“Any money that has gone over my funeral expenses is now being put into a trust fund for my babies, that way I can leave something for them and still make sure they are okay when they grow up,” Diarte- Carr wrote
Diarte-Carr’s cousin, Angelique Rivera, shared the heartbreaking photo of her children hugging their mother on a hospital bed and said her story touched the hearts of many.
“We are at a loss for words and can never say thank you enough,” Rivera wrote.
Viewers of the post reached out in the comments, offering help and support to the family anyway.
‘Is there anything else we can do? Meals? Halloween costumes? Her story touched so many people!! I pray for her and her sweet babies.” wrote one.
Another commented, “Omg I’m praying so damn hard for her comfort and for her sweet babies who will have to navigate without their mama. This story tore me apart. Please, God watch over these beautiful people.”
Countless others offered help to the children and Diarte-Carr in her final months, with toys, donations, food, and asking how they could get involved.
Diarte-Carr then gave an update to those who had or will donate that she had stopped her treatments as they were no longer effective, and was told she had three months to live.
Her community in Ogden, Utah provided a lot of help and support to the single mother and her family, offering meals, toys, food, money and prayers as well as any help they could give
Thanking those who contributed, she wrote: “Any money that has gone over my funeral costs is now being put into a trust fund for my babies, that way I can leave something for them and still make sure they will do. okay if they get bigger.”
Diarte-Carr also expressed gratitude to her medical team in Ogden for their “time, care and patience.”
“Me and my family thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!” she said.
She added: ‘[My children] are my whole life, light and soul. My children are my fight and what keeps me going.”
Five-year-old Ailiyah told ABC 4: “She’s special to us.”
The family plans to go camping and they hope the children can spend another Christmas with their mother.