After 8 months of going to various doctors to find out why she was in so much pain she requested an MRI. As soon as the results were in she was told to come in for emergency surgery to remove the mass in her neck. She couldn't find anyone to give her a clear picture of what they found on her MRI. They just told her to schedule the surgery and go in. Although she knew she needed surgery and she was told it was urgent her son's birthday was just a few days away. She decided that there was no way she'd miss her son's birthday celebration for a surgery. Looking back, I'm glad she made that decision. About a week later she had the surgery. They removed a tumor from the base of her skull that was also at the top of her spine. The tumor was sent in for a biopsy and they came back after a few weeks to say that she had chordoma of the spine. Chordoma of the spine is a very rare cancer that only about 1,000 people in the world have.
The only option Socorro was given to get rid of the chordoma was to scrape as much of it out as possible and very little radiation. Radiation can't be done for too long because of the location of the tumor and chemotherapy has been proven not to work in that area. She was told that she had a 60% chance of surviving. Socorro never cried or seemed worried this whole time. She was acting herself when I visited her in the hospital. I visited her 3 times and she was looking better each time. She was so strong and I was so happy to see her in good spirits. Well, she was due for another surgery a few weeks later and then she was scheduled to be sent to Loma Linda for radiation. About a day before her surgery they did another MRI to see if the cancer was cleared up. The MRI revealed that the chordoma came back with a vengence and they had to go back in to scrape as much of it out as they could. They were no longer going to send her to Loma Linda. Socorro had the surgery but her sister sent me a text that she didn't want to see anyone. I decided that it was best that her family help her through this and if she wanted to see me that she would let me know. I didn't have any communication with Socorro for about a month. Finally, she text me one day that she really wanted to see me. I was so happy to hear that.
I was on my way to Monterey but I told her that I'd come see her as soon as I got back. I did just that. I text her to see what time would be good to visit her at home. She text me to give her some time because she had to clean her trach out. I had no idea she had that and why she had that. I finally got to her house in the early evening. Man, it was so hard for me to see and hear her. She opened the door and she didn't sound like herself and she didn't look like herself. She also had an I.V. feeding stand with her that was attached to her stomach. It made me so sad to see her in this shape. Remember that I hadn't seen her for a month after the last surgery so this was nothing in comparison to what she looked and sounded like when she had her second surgery. That is the reason why she didn't want to see anyone and I understood. I sat with Socorro for several hours. She cried almost the whole time. Her mom moved in to take care of her and made sure she got her medicine through her I.V. feeding tube at the exact time she needed to take it. The drugs made her so drowsy and she would fall asleep in mid-sentence. She was sad to find who weren't her real friends, sad about her appearance, sad that she couldn't give herself a bath and especially sad that the doctor suggested hospice care. She was given 6-12 months to live. Socorro refused hospice care so the hospice care came to her. She had nurses come to her house 5 days a week, a caregiver to come bathe her 3 days a week, and a social worker that visited 1 day a week. She was free on the weekends. The trach she had was a foreign object to her body so she had to constantly clear away the mucus that came out. She had to take deep breaths in order to talk. She couldn't lift her left arm very high because the doctors had to cut some nerves in order to get the cancer out. The left side of her face was so swollen that it was severely deformed. Her mother told me she couldn't sleep very well at night because she was scared that she wouldn't hear Socorro if she needed her help. I decided that night that I needed to buy Socorro a baby monitor to give her mom some peace. That same night I bought Socorro a baby monitor.
I went back the next day to take them the baby monitor. Socorro asked me when I'd be back and I told her the following weekend. I went back and visited Socorro again and again as many times I could every weekend. She gradually regained her appearance as the swelling went down and her voice came back. She told me how she begged for her life and prayed to God every morning and every night, in front of her altar, on her knees. She went through 60 days of radiation at Kaiser but her insurance wouldn't pay for any more. The bank tried to take her house away from her because she could no longer make the mortgage payments once she stopped working. Her employer could no longer offer insurance for her by the end of December. Through it all she remained strong. I sent her a text message showing her the painting my boyfriend made me for Christmas. She loved it so much that she asked him to make her one. He agreed only because he knew how much I cared for her and the situation she was in. My boyfriend was honored to paint something for her and did it the very next day. Socorro had an MRI scheduled for New Year's Eve. She was scared to find out what the results were since she could still feel some pain and still felt a ball in her neck. I didn't see her for a few weeks because of the holidays but we kept in touch by text. If you haven't caught on yet, Socorro was a text messaging queen.
Anyway, my boyfriend was too sick to go visit her and give her the painting so we waited till he was better to visit her. In the meantime, Socorro text me with the results of her MRI. The cancer spread into her lungs. All I could do was give her words of wisdom. I worried about her all the time. She was always in my thoughts. Finally my boyfriend and I went to visit Socorro. I felt it was long overdue since I was used to seeing her almost every weekend. We visited her on January 10, 2010. We gave her the painting that is shown up above.
She absolutely loved it. She wasn't feel very well that day but she looked good. She woke up that morning choking on the mucus in her lungs and vomiting. That went on for 2 hours. This wasn't anything new to her. It happened all the time but this time it took a lot of energy out of her. She was so tired that day that she didn't even have the energy to get out of her pajamas. I didn't mind and neither did my boyfriend. So we conversated as normal but she told us that the trach had been removed and that the hole wasn't closing. She said that the hole was bleeding and that a lump was protruding from it. It was most likely her cancer. The good thing is that she started a new type of chemotherapy and it made her feel better. She felt so well that she said she was going out for walks with her mom. I was happy to hear that. We left after a short time because she had family there that was visiting her. She didn't text me after I left, which wasn't normal but I thought that maybe she just forgot. A week went by and I didn't text her or visit her but I definitely thought about her. Then, I received a phone call at 9:30 pm on Monday, January 18th, it was Socorro's sister. I asked her why she was calling me because I didn't want to get the news. She told me that Socorro passed away that day at 4 pm. I was so upset but it was good to know that God has her now. She is no longer suffering. She was only 27 years old. She left behind her 4 year old son Jonathan, her fiance Robert, her mother, father, two sisters and a brother. I went to her viewing on Friday. She looked so good. I was happy to see the slideshow of all the pictures her family found of her. I paid my respects to her fiance, father, mother, two sisters and brother-in-law. Socorro's sister, Angelica, made me feel so much better to know that Socorro passed peacefully. The funeral was yesterday. She will be cremated and her ashes will be at the same cemetary as her sister's twin's that died at birth. She will not be alone. I will miss her dearly and I'm happy to have had her as a friend.
