Jessica claims her mother, Patricia, is faking terminal brain cancer and having had 17 strokes. She believes her mom’s claims of defying the odds to become a record-setting weight lifter are all just a phony effort to gain sympathy and attention.
“My mother did a local news story telling everyone that she had stage 3 cancer, that she was going to die ... My mom was trying to collect donations,” Jessica says. She acknowledges that her mother had a major brain surgery, but she says that from what the doctors have told her, her mother never had cancer. “I cannot let my mom lie like this. I’ve told her to stop. I’ve confronted her with doctors, and I can’t do it anymore.” So she says she is turning to Dr. Phil for help getting through to her mother.
Jessica claims that her mother has been spinning stories about various medical ailments for as long as she can remember. She says that during her childhood — some of which was spent in foster care — her mother said she was numb on one side of her body so she needed to use a cane. Shortly thereafter, however, she claims her mom’s limp and the cane were on the other side.
Patricia vehemently denies Jessica’s accusations and says her survival story should be celebrated, not criticized. “I have 12 titles in weight lifting, and I have cancer,” she says. “I have had 17 strokes, brain surgery, plates in my head, collapsed lungs and two near-death experiences.”
The mom of four says that after she had her brain surgery, she was told she was never going to walk or talk again and had to learn everything over. So she took up weight lifting as therapy, and now she’s a world-champion deadlifter with 12 records. “People are so shocked and they come up and say to me, ‘You have been through brain surgery, you have been through chemo, and you’re lifting all this weight?’” she says. “Every time I go to my doctor’s appointment, they say, ‘We don’t know why you’re still here. You are a living dead girl.’”
Patricia says she can’t understand why her daughter doesn’t believe her. “Jessica is seeking revenge on me, and I want her to stop bashing me and saying I do not have cancer, I’m a fake and I am telling lies,” she says.
So who’s telling the truth? Dr. Phil reviews Patricia’s medical records on Thursday's show. Watch more here.
