Help Dorie Beat Cancer!

It was in November when she began experiencing difficulty of breathing. At that point, we were all assuming its cardiac/pulmonary in nature, which is probably typical at her age. Her diagnostics were unremarkable except for the low blood counts. Naturally, the doctors ordered stat blood transfusion, however just after a few weeks, it happened again and again and again. On the 3rd time, all of us started to worry. A lot of us in the family are in the medical field and even if we don’t talk about it, we were all thinking it. We moved her to a bigger hospital to get a second opinion, and then it became real. She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Dorotea Mauricio, 57y/o, a good wife, a mother of 3, and a grandmother of, also, 3, now fighting for her life. She was admitted immediately after the results were released as they were so low it was dangerous for her to be outside. Chemo was given via intravenous and intrathecal routes interchangeably and has resulted to loss of hair, appetite, weight and sadly, her taste for life. Our initial cycle that lasted 3 days already amounted to more than Php150,000 and now she is admitted supposedly for a month, to finish 9 more cycles of chemotherapy. And if (hopefully when) she goes into remission she will have to undergo bone marrow transplant that will definitely prolong her life. After showing some improvement during the first few days in the hospital, her blood counts again began to decline and blood sugar started to increase. Yesterday (February 27), she was moved to the ICU to be monitored closely as her electrolytes have also started to fall.

Dealing with Cancer is not new in the family. 3 of her siblings have already died of other types (colon, lung and brain CA) and were sadly, gone too soon to even be treated with chemo. This is the very reason why we agreed to an aggressive treatment. Chemotherapy being proven to work, majority of the time despite the aweful side effects, felt like the best course of action at this point. And now, we wait and pray.

Our mom ate healthy, lived actively and loved unconditionally. That's why despite the familial history, it still came as a surprise. Everyone who knows her will surely say she's an amazing person with an enormous heart who doesn't deserve to suffer like this. Couldnt agree more, but honestly, at the end of the day she is just our mom, our mom who we are trying to save. I’m knocking at your kind hearts for financial help and fervent prayers in order for us to win this battle.