Prior to her diagnosis, LaRae Mena lived a vibrant life. As a human resources professional at a large security company, she balanced a busy schedule of pickleball, choral singing, and regular visits with family. Her life was full, until everything changed over Thanksgiving weekend in 2022.

She went to the emergency room due to unusual bleeding. A scan revealed a tumor the size of a pear that had already invaded the muscle wall of her bladder. Within days, LaRae underwent surgery to remove 90% of the tumor. Chemo wasn’t immediately an option since the cancer was already at stage 3. Doctors quickly scheduled a radical surgery to remove her bladder and 89 pelvic lymph nodes. A neobladder was constructed from five feet of her intestine in hopes of restoring normal function.

In December 2022, just weeks after her diagnosis, she underwent this life altering, 12-hour surgery. The recovery was grueling, and by February, she began chemo. She made it through four cycles before her body grew too weak to continue. Throughout the process, she lost over 60 pounds.

Her journey hasn’t gotten easier. The neobladder never worked. Continual incontinence made daily life miserable. Now, LaRae is preparing for another major surgery in June. This time to remove the neobladder and replace it with an Indiana pouch, allowing her to empty her bladder through a stoma near her belly button. It’s expected to be another long and complex procedure, with months of recovery ahead.

During her most difficult moments, including the end of an engagement, becoming a full-time caregiver for her mother with dementia, and facing financial uncertainty with no income, LaRae found help through a neighbor who had been supported by Vickie’s Angel Foundation. He pointed her in our direction.

“Vickie’s Angel Foundation came into my life at exactly the right time,” she shared. “I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills. I had no income. I would have lost the roof over my head if it wasn’t for them.”

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we were able to pay LaRae’s rent, some utilities, and provide gift cards for food. Our support allowed her to focus on what mattered most, healing, being present with her mother and son, and making it to her medical appointments.

LaRae has also experienced beautiful and unexpected blessings. She recently reconnected with her biological sister. Both women had been given up for adoption to different families. After finding each other in recent years, they discovered they live only an hour apart. They’ve even connected with their birth mother, still living in Canada. LaRae plans to finally meet her mother following her recovery.

LaRae’s name carries a legacy of compassion and remembrance. During World War II, her uncle was cared for by a kind French nurse named LaRae. After the nurse was killed in a bombing, he asked his mother, then pregnant, to name the baby LaRae if it was a girl. She did. When adopted years later, then named Patricia, her new mother honored that legacy by renaming her LaRae. Today, those qualities of compassion and remembrance shine through in her life.

Despite the hardships, LaRae’s faith has deepened. “I’ve always gone to church, but during my hardest times, I felt defeated,” she said. “Since my diagnosis, my relationship with God has come full force. He’s put people in my life when I needed them, and I really needed Vickie’s Angel Foundation.”

Today, LaRae gardens, focuses on healing, and dreams of singing again. With nine years of vocal training and a history of performing in church, she hopes to one day sing on stage at Sight & Sound Theatres. She hopes to attend the Angel Walk in October and may even sing!

Vickie’s Angel Foundation was created for stories like LaRae’s. We are a temporary financial bridge, a Beacon of Hope, when people need it most.