Mother's Day 2019: 'My Mom Is My Rock'

WAUKESHA, WI — A mother is an eternal being - yet when Danielle Montoya calls her mother Debbie Kailas, she is reminded just how fleeting life can be.

That's because Debbie overcame the odds to survive stage 2B pancreatic cancer in the fall of 2014. After nearly five years of being cancer-free, they're hoping she has enough fight in her to beat it again.

"She refuses to give up," Danielle said of her mother. "She’s always said, 'I’m going to beat this.'”

Danielle said Debbie was the kind of mother who would go without just so her children could have something extra in her life. "We are her everything. There was nothing she wouldn’t have done for us," she said.

Danielle said it's her turn now, and has made it a priority to be her advocate through another difficult treatment journey. When Debbie began to have troubling symptoms in late 2018, Danielle reached out to the best specialist she could find. "I am a health care worker, and seeing my mom crying and doubled over in pain everyday I had to do something," she said.

When it was clear that Debbie had a recurrence of pancreatic cancer, she knew another round of chemotherapy was in her future - and that her daughter would be there every step of the way. "I know if I didn’t advocate for her and have her go, she would not be here anymore," Danielle said.

In solidarity, Danielle told her mother that she'd shave her head right along with her.

"I always told my mom I’d shave my head with her when it comes time. In mid-March my mom called me on a Saturday and said, 'Dani it’s time' and I responded with, 'We can go tomorrow!;'" she said.

The next day Danielle and her mother Debbie traveled to a local salon to have their heads shaved - together. Danielle remembers hearing a Britney Spears song come over the radio as locks of hair tumbled to the floor.

"It was just meant to be," Danielle said - referring to the tabloid-rattling moment in 2007 when the pop megastar walked into a hair salon in Tarzana, California and shaved her head.

Danielle says the tumor inside her mother's body hasn't been responding to treatment, and that the family is running out of options.

Danielle said she's proud of her mother's resolve, and knows that she will put up a good fight for as long as she is able. Debbie says seeing her six grandchildren - all of whom are between seven years old and seven months old - graduate high school is keep her going.

"My mom means everything to me. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about making sure I am grateful for every day I get with her," she said.

How to Help

Debbie Kailas, 59, of Waukesha survived cancer, but that cancer has returned. The family says it needs help covering medical bills. If you want to help, go to their Go Fund Me page to donate to the family's fund.