Chemo fund for Dione

I started this campaign hoping to get financial support after being diagnosed wth aggressive non-Hodgkins B-cell lymphoma on 1 February 2018, and to be able to raise funds for my urgent chemotherapy starting March 2018. Aggressive lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that affects the immune system and if left untreated could only give a patient months to live.

Following a hospitalization in December 2017 for gastrointenstinal complaints, the doctors found a mass in my colon. Just soon after the new year, I underwent an 8-hour operation to remove a very large tumor in this area. Due to complications, I had to go through 2 more surgeries a few days after the first one.

The biopsy results showed my tumor to be malignant. I was told that I needed 8 cycles of chemotherapy with 5 drugs that would cost about 180,000 pesos or about US$3,462 per cycle at 21-day intervals. Administration of the chemo and 4 standard drugs would be free but the main drug (Rituximab 500mg x 2 vials per session) is not. I was given my first cycle last March 17 and now we are raising for my 2nd cycle and will be able to get my second dose on March 28 once I’m able to secure money for the needed drugs.

The procedures and medical expenses I went through drained the family's resources despite help from donor institutions, relatives and close friends. This means, with the cost of chemotherapy being exceedingly high, and having no insurance to cover the treatment, I simply have no means to finance it. The lack in the Philippines (where I live) of social welfare protection which enables access to essential medicines and care reduces people with extreme medical needs like me to find our own sources and ways to pay for our treatment.

The big challenge now is whether I will be able to raise enough funds for the entire chemo treatment. Through this fundraising campaign, the family hopes to be able to gather financial support to help me continue the therapy with 7 more cycles to go.

My sudden illness is still a shock to the family, and my 3 teenage children are only starting to deal with the shock of seeing their father so changed between one day and the next... from what the photo below shows, to what I am these days (see main photo).

It is going to be a difficult struggle ahead for the family, but I try to keep a positive frame of mind.

Please help me pay for my remaining chemo cycles by contributing to this fund. Your contribution will go a long way in helping me get through this very crucial phase. Many thanks in advance for your kindness and generosity.

Please help this campaign by sharing the link on your Facebook page and other social networks. We will post an update from time to time.

As I go through the chemo cycles, we will be reflecting the amount raised offline as well to reflect actual remaining costs for which the kind support of friends and others will be needed.