Hope for Erwin: Helping My Father Fight Cancer

My warmest greetings!

Last September 2016, my father, Erwin Vallejo, was rushed to the hospital. Weeks earlier, he had been complaining of back pains. Slowly, the back pains escalated until he could barely walk, stand, or sit without clenching in pain. Our family went to the hospital to see what was wrong with him and found out the truth: one of the bones in his spinal column (vertebra) was collapsing.

He was hospitalized for around two to three weeks and went home but soon the pain returned. In a span of three months, he underwent numerous medical procedures such as blood tests, MRI scans, CT scans, biopsies, etc. Despite all his medication and heavy painkillers, his condition only worsened. In December he was scheduled for another MRI scan and then did we learn that there were now two vertebrae in danger of collapsing. He was once again hospitalized and needed to undergo surgery to stabilize his spinal column with titanium implants. To pay for his implants, surgical procedure, doctors’ fees and hospital bills, we had to rely on our family, friends, and government aid.

We spent the holidays in the hospital and only returned home last January 16, 2017. After months of doubt and uncertainty, the doctors told us our father’s true condition: he has Stage IV spine cancer, either of the spinal cord or the spinal column. He is currently undergoing radiation therapy to slow down the spread of the cancer cells, to be followed by chemotherapy, but the goodwill we had relied upon is not enough. Our healthcare insurance has been expended and every government agency has been visited. And yet, there are still numerous debts to pay and many more bills to follow.

Our father was our family’s breadwinner. My mother, Sheila Vallejo, technically a housewife but in reality does so many things one cannot keep count of, is trying her best to support us. Me and my brother are only students and my parents do not want to see us neglecting our education. With daddy needing our aid every hour of every day, our movement becomes extremely limited and the time that my mother can use to work is instead used up taking care of my dad. With every second dedicated to him, we can barely keep ourselves afloat as the debts pile up.

I have seen cancer rob the joys we once had. The spark that my dad once had is slowly dwindling and the pain he feels is painful for us as well. Right now, you are our only hope, my dad’s only hope. We can only do so much before our best becomes so lacking compared to what is needed. We knock on your kind hearts to give whatever financial aid you can, no matter how big or small. Help us save our father and bring back the fire he once had.

Thank you, and may God bless us always.

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If you would like to send offline, you can send your donations to my mother, Sheila Zabala-Vallejo, thru her RCBC MyWallet, account number: 6019 7182 5637 5950

Thank you so much, and may God bless you.