(It was a rough couple of days for Eli with us receiving nothing but bad news. But we will keep our heads above the waves and our faith on stronghold. We need a miracle and miracles happen. But sometimes, you just have to make your own.)

Since this started, everyone has repeatedly told me to “Stay strong”, “Keep the faith”, “Hang in there”, “There’s a reason for everything”.

The past two days have been the most painful in my entire life.
The chemotherapy was a failure. Eli’s blood count showed there were still cancer cells. Meaning, having a stem cell transplant to save his life is not possible. To make it possible, he has to undergo another round of a more aggressive chemotherapy cycle soon because the doctors cannot perform a transplant if there’s still presence of cancer cells.

Today, my son has been in constant pain, screaming at times. He even reached out to me in despair, shouting, “Mommy, tulungan mo ako!” because he has always looked to me for a solution. I have tried to be both a mother and father to him, I have slain all of his dragons for him all his life. So when he looked at me earlier in his pain, for the first time, I did not know what to do. And I just held him and held him and prayed silently for God to listen to me and take away my son’s pain.

I want to blame somebody. Anybody. Anything. But who do I blame? Do I blame myself that somehow I passed on to him a defective gene? Do I blame science for not coming up with a cure? Do I blame the government for not having done enough to support cancer, after knowing yesterday PCSO does not sponsor stem cell transplants? Do I blame God for this injustice done to my little boy for making him suffer, killing him a little bit every day, he who has not done anything to deserve this fate? Who? What?

And I was angry. I was angry that what lies between death and life has come down to money. Money. For all those precious moments I’ve hugged and kissed my son, for all the milestones he achieved, for being the great boy that he is, no amount of money can replace that. But for him to have another birthday, for him to live to drive a car with his girlfriend on a roadtrip, for me to just love him longer, these possibilities have been degraded to money.

I let myself wallow in my anger and in my pain but I have promised him from Day 1 that I will never stop moving. And I decided to finally call out for help.

I am sharing this online fundraising link to give Eli a chance. This was a link previously shared only to family and close friends, but with the recent developments, sharing it publicly increases the probability of support significantly.

If we do a quick math, Mighty Eli will only need Php 1,000 from 5,000 people. Just Php 1,000. How can you help?

1. Please be one of Eli’s 5,000 supporters. Yes, some of you may not know Eli personally, but your Php 1000 will save a life.
2. If you are unable to donate, just the mere power of sharing his story and his fundraising link increases the chances that it will reach more people who can donate. By sharing, you would also help significantly in saving him.

Aside from Christmas, Eli’s 10th birthday is on January 19. He has a chance, as slim as it may be, to celebrate it. Please help him make it happen. And unlike everything happening beyond our control, this is something we can change. We need more warriors for Eli. Help us pray and help us make miracles happen.