When Chaya Maryan started acting weak and lethargic after giving birth to her fifth child, her doctor chalked it up to postpartum depression.
“Postpartum depression is very common,” he said. “It affects almost 60% of women who give birth. Give it some time. Make sure to get fresh air every day.”
But in the end, it was something far, far worse.
It was a crisp autumn morning, and Chaya was sluggishly moving around her small Israeli apartment as usual. Her baby was five months, and by now the family had it down to a routine: Her husband woke the kids up, fed them breakfast, and got them dressed. Chaya, almost too weak to carry the baby, would give each kid a smile and kiss them goodbye and when they left the house, she would collapse onto the couch with the baby.
But on that autumn morning, Chaya’s mother was visiting and she noticed that her daughter’s stomach looked oddly swollen. Something didn’t feel right so she urged Chaya to visit a doctor again. But this time, Chaya’s trip to the doctor revealed terrifying news:
She was in the throes of stage 4 cancer.
“We were completely shocked,” Chaya says. “It had gone undetected for so long that it was already at stage 4.”
Overnight, life became a whirlwind of surgeries and painful chemotherapy. But in the true spirit of motherhood, Chaya worries only about one thing:
“As I sit here fighting for my life, I worry the most for my children….The doctors have told us about more advanced treatment options that would drastically increase my chances of recovery…But how can we do it when we are trying to put food on the table?”
Funds are urgently being collected to provide some relief to Chaya’s family, who need help to put food on the table and to pay for the advanced treatment option recommended by doctors so that Chaya’s chances of recovery can drastically increase.
“My children are so young, and they need a mother,” are the heartwrenching words written by Chaya. “Please let me live.”
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