Meet Our Moms
The magnificent women we’ve been privileged to bless, who have touched us and countless more along the way.
Patty Thomases
Patty Thomases
Patty is a 49 year-old mom. She and her husband, Jordan, have two children, Matthew (13) and Natalie (7). Patty has stage IV metastatic adenocarcinoma of the breast with mets to the bones and peritoneal area. She was diagnosed in September 2014 and had surgery in 2015. Prior to stopping work, Patty worked in healthcare most of her adult life.
Patty’s wish was to get away on vacation to create family memories. They went to a resort in Cancun, Mexico. The family got to see the Mayan ruins, snorkel, swim in the ocean and an underground river, see all kinds of tropical fish and enjoy the pool. We are so happy the Thomases’ had time away as a family to have fun and forget about the issues back home.
Kari Mathis
Kari Mathis
Kari was diagnosed in 2015 with stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer at the age of 37. It has spread to her bones and liver. She has a 10 year old son and a 20 year old son who is in the Army. She was unable to travel far so they planned a family getaway in their home state of North Carolina. They are visiting the Christmas lights at the Biltmore estate and staying in the area for a couple of days. Then they will be headed to the the Great Wolf lodge for a post Christmas vacation. The whole family will get to spend time together for Kari’s wish.
Jennifer Wetzel
Jennifer Wetzel
Meet Jennifer: She was first diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in 2012, and then was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer this past February. She has not been home to Indiana in 23 years. Her wish is to take her 2 children back home to see family and to see snow for the first time. Jennifer will spend time making memories and showing her kids where she grew up this Christmas!
Rachael Herrera
Rachael Herrera
Meet Rachael…. she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2012. Her tumor is too large to be removed and her doctor’s said she would not see 2014. She is a single mom raising 3 children and continues to work in a middle school in Houston. Her wish is to take her children to Disney World. They were so excited for this trip and could not sleep when we told her this wish would be granted!
Rebecca Adam
Rebecca Adam
Meet Rebecca…. she is 40 years old and has Metastatic Breast Cancer with metastasis across her sternum, right lung & numerous inoperable mets on the liver. She has a 5 year old son. Ever since Rebecca was little she has always had the wish to swim in the ocean as a mermaid. Rebecca’s wish is to make memories in Hawaii with her family and her dream of being a mermaid will come true thanks to See Through Sea.
Ayesha Boykin
Ayesha Boykin
Meet Ayesha….. she is 44 years old with two boys ages 13 and 6. She was diagnosed with breast cancer about 3 years ago and became cancer free. This past March the cancer has spread to her bones, brain, and lymph nodes. Her wish is to take her boys to California. They will spend some time in San Francisco and Monterey. They will get to take the boys to the Monterey aquarium. We are wishing them a terrific time making memories together as a family!
Tiffiny Dlouhy
Tiffiny Dlouhy
Meet Tiffiny, who is a 29 year-old mom; she and her husband, Cameron, have two young sons, Tryce (7) and Breckyn (4). They are Iowa State fans and love sports. The family stays as active as possible with the boys trying different sports and activities.
In October 2011, while pregnant with her second child, Tiffiny was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer at the very young age of 24. She immediately started chemotherapy. On March 2, 2012, they welcomed a beautiful and healthy baby boy, Breckyn. Not even four weeks later, she was back in the hospital for a double mastectomy. In June 2014, a large tumor was found in her right hip, which had damaged the hip bone so severely Tiffiny had emergency surgery to place a rod from her hip to her knee to stabilize the bone. At that time, they biopsied the tumor and confirmed it was breast cancer that metastasized to several other spots in her bones and liver. Tiffiny also had a hysterectomy in October 2014. She just recently finished up with more chemo for the last several months.
Tiffiny’s wish is to have an Apple MacBook and iPad for her and her family. She will have the ability to FaceTime with the kids when they are apart due to treatment, surgery, or recovery. Tiffiny likes to be organized. She wants to have things planned out for her husband once she’s gone. So having a computer, Tiffiny can keep notes, write letters and organize important information. Her wish will be granted in September 2016.
Jessica Karabian
Jessica Karabian- At 29 years old she was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Her daughter was just 8 months old and she has been married for three years. She was diagnosed 2 days after our their third anniversary. She did chemo, a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and 6 weeks of radiation. A year later on their exact anniversary she was diagnosed with stage iv metastatic breast cancer that has spread to her bones.
Her wish is to go back to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where her grandparents took her. She wants to stay at the Robert Fulton Inn and visit the Dutch Wonderland and Hershey Park. They will also be able to do the train rides in Strasburg. They will be able to do this close to their anniversary so they can make happy memories this year. Her wish will be granted in September 2016.
Diana Koval
Dionna is a single mom and has a teenage son. Her son referred her to Ally’s Wish. He wants his mom to have a vacation so she can relax and enjoy herself. She was diagnosed with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer that has spread to her bones and liver. She continues with treatment and gets help from her parents. Her wish is to take her son to Hawaii. She had to postpone her trip but was able to travel to Miami in November 2016 where she made some great memories with her son.
Karen Brady
Karen is 41 years old and has been married for eighteen years to her husband Roger and they have two children, Madelyn 17 and Blaine 12. In April 2016 she was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer that has now metastasized into her lungs and my lymph nodes.
Her wish is to swim with the dolphins and travel to Florida. Karen’s wish got put on hold due to an unexpected surgery. Since Karen could not get in the water after surgery her wish was changed to take her family to New York City. They got to spend the week after Thanksgiving and make wonderful memories in New York!
Roberta Szpara
Roberta was diagnosed in 2008 with Stage II breast cancer when her son was 13 months old. She was 31. After the diagnosis, all she was focused on was having more children. She was very lucky to one healthy little boy, but her family did not feel complete. After 4 years and new research, her new oncologist was on board with her taking a break from medication to try to conceive. Being 35, she immediately went to a fertility specialist who told her that her counts were so low it was very unlikely that she would ever conceive. After 5 days of injectables, she was preganant-with TWINS!! Her perfectly healthy girls were born at 38 weeks in December 2012.
This past February 2016, she found an enlarged lymph node and scans showed that the cancer has returned to numerous spots on her bones, lymph nodes and the lining in my lung. Roberta has Stage IV metastatic breast cancer.
Her wish is to take her family to Disney World in Florida. They will make magical memories in September 2016.
Jackie Schellmat
In October 2015, Jackie was diagnosed with stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer. It has spread to her lymph nodes, and she is her2 postive. After more scans it has spread to her bones also, and she continues to take chemo. She is 51 years old and had 3 teenagers. Her children have not been on an airplane so that was a must. They will travel in August 2016 to California. They will get to spend time at the beach, Disney World, and Universal Studies. Jackie would love to see some movie stars so of course they will take a TMZ tour!