A Utah mom of two with terminal cancer is raising money for her own funeral and her childrens future.
Learn about small cell lung carcinoma.
Erika Diarte-Carr lives in Utah with her 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter.
Diarte-Carr has been battling small cell lung carcinoma since 2022.
What started as an emergency room visit for shoulder pain escalated into a cancer diagnosis.
By that point the damage had already been done.
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Diarte-Carr initially started aGoFundMe campaignwith the goal of $5,000 to cover the cost of a funeral.
So far more than 30,000 donors have contributed more than $1 million to her fundraiser.
In addition to her cancer diagnosis, Diarte-Carr was also diagnosed with Cushings syndrome in 2024.
Thats when I started to decline and things got worse, shetold ABC4.
Heres what to know about the diagnosis and prognosis of these diseases.
What is small cell lung carcinoma?
SCLC tends to grow and spread quickly, making it particularly dangerous and challenging to treat.
Causes
The most common cause of SCLC is smoking, per theNational Cancer Institute(NCI).
Symptoms
Early symptoms of SCLC can be subtle and are often mistaken for less serious illnesses.
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Because SCLC grows and spreads quickly, these symptoms may escalate rapidly if the disease is not detected early.
If a tumor is detected, a biopsy is often performed to analyze the tissue for cancer cells.
Treatment for SCLC depends on the stage of the cancer and the patients overall health.
Its Amazing How Its All Connected.
What is Cushings syndrome?
However, when too much cortisol is present, it can lead to a variety of health problems.
In rarer cases, Cushings syndrome occurs because the body is producing too much cortisol on its own.
These symptoms can develop gradually and may often be misattributed to other health conditions, delaying diagnosis.
The treatment for Cushings syndrome depends on its cause.
Early diagnosis and intervention are key to improving the outlook for people with this condition.
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