I just finished watching Sharyn's story on hoarders. I am the daughter of a hoarder. No one was allowed at my mother's house. Six years ago, she had a mild heart attack and called 911. She waited outside on her front step for the ambulance to arrive. One sister went to her house to check on things and was amazed at the condtion in which she was living.

We tried several times to get my mother to agree to let us help her clean things up. She would accuse us of trying to steal her things. We would have done anything to try and find a suitable solution, but she fought us every step of the way. We finally gave up.

After her recovery from open heart surgery to replace a valve, repair a valve, quadruple bypass, and congestive heart failure, she returned to her home. She continued to live there 5 more years. This past January 6th, she was taken to the hospital again with extreme difficulty breathing. Preliminary diagnosis was pneumonia. They inserted a tube in her back to help drain the fluid from her lungs. On January 27th, she was rediagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She died Feb 9th.

Myself, my five sisters, and 1 brother then had the overwhelming task of cleaning out her home. Going through the piles of clothing, boxes of pre-brought gifts and mounds of papers were extremely difficult. Not only because of the neverending task at hand, but the emotional pangs of guilt and sorrow for the way she chose to live.

Listening to Sharyn's story of trying to fill a void in her life with things made me realize what my mother was doing to herself because of the pain she was in. I now believe that my mother's lifestyle has certainly contributed to her demise. Her home was also toxic. Spending just a few hours at a time cleaning affected my breathing and made my lungs ache for days.

I want to thank Sharyn for having the courage to make public a most embarrassing issue. You see, today would have been my mom's 77th birthday. This story has helped me come to terms with my mother's inability to help herself. Her spirit is speaking to me today to let me know that everything is going to be okay even though today my heart is still breaking.