A Santa Monica High School graduate died early Thursday morning after a 26-month battle with cancer.
Lily Meza, 30, was surrounded by family and friends at her home in Inglewood when she passed away, according to childhood friend Cynthia Juarez.
“Remember Lily as the beautiful girl with a glowing smile, kind heart and caring soul,” Juarez wrote.
Meza, who was diagnosed with angiosarcoma of the breast in late 2013, was receiving hospice care this week after recently being hospitalized and learning that cancer cells had spread into her bones.
The front page of Thursday’s edition of the Daily Press included an article (below) about Meza’s worsening condition and a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign that Juarez launched on Monday. The article was prepared for publication on Wednesday, before Meza died.
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Cynthia Juarez met Lily Meza when they were in sixth grade at John Adams Middle School. They became fast friends, graduated from Santa Monica High School in 2003 and have kept in touch ever since.
But Juarez fears that their friendship is coming to an abrupt end. Meza, 30, was diagnosed with cancer over two years ago, and she began hospice care after an oncology appointment this week.
“She’s essentially dying,” Juarez said in a phone interview Tuesday. “There isn’t really much the doctors can do anymore. She’s chosen to stay at home so she can be as comfortable as possible.”
Feeling helpless in the face of her friend’s deteriorating condition, Juarez launched a crowdfunding campaign through GoFundMe to help Meza financially. Eighty donors, many of them fellow Samohi alumni, had contributed more than $5,400 as of Wednesday afternoon, just two days after the fundraiser kicked off. Juarez was planning to tell Meza about it Tuesday night.
“I was just awed at how many people had been reaching out,” Juarez said. “Given her condition is worsening every minute, I want to let her know how many people are reaching out and sending their well-wishes.”
Born in Mexico, Meza attended Edison Language Academy, JAMS and Samohi before finding work as a nanny and freelance photographer. She enjoyed hiking and the outdoors, and she shared her dreams of traveling to Greece and China.
After being diagnosed with angiosarcoma of the breast in late 2013, Meza had a mastectomy and began numerous rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
She stayed active over the next two years, continuing to work, cook, write and make crafts even as cancer spread into her lungs. She regularly visited Juarez in Koreatown, where she works as a teacher.
“She’s remained probably the most positive of everyone,” Juarez said. “Not once did she say she was too sick to do something or too weak to do something. She’s a fighter. She pushed through it all. ... I know she was in pain, but she wanted to make sure we were OK. She wanted to look out for others to make sure we were shielded.”
When Meza was hospitalized late last month, though, she learned that her cancer was affecting her bones. Feeling even more pain than usual, she’s become “disheartened at the fact that her independence is slowly being taken away from her,” Juarez said.
Complicating Meza’s life over the last two years is her immigration status, which Juarez said has prevented her from qualifying for certain healthcare benefits.
“She’s had to work through her illness because she doesn’t get disability or anything like that,” Juarez said.
Nurses, friends and family will be with Meza at her Inglewood residence for the foreseeable future. She is supposed to turn 31 on Feb. 12, and Juarez is trying to cherish every moment she gets with her childhood friend.
“I don’t know how long she has,” Juarez said. “But she’s still not giving up.”
jeff@www.smdp.com
