ReaCHAble Hope

Hello lovely people! The picture below is my younger sister (Cha) with her witty daughter. Cha was diagnosed to have Stage 1 Breast Cancer just this May of 2019.

It was later last year when my sister felt a lump on her left breast. She had it checked immediately by a physician and was tested thru ultrasound. November 2018 – 0.9 x 0.8 cm cyst was found and said that it was benign and was told that there’s no need for cyst removal. Yet, our mom still insists to have it checked by a different doctor.

April 2019 – She was able to have it checked and tested again by a different doctor. Unfortunately, the previous 0.9 x 0.8 cm cyst became a 1.4 x 2 cm cyst within the span of 5 months after her first ultrasound. Thus, the doctor advised to conduct cyst removal surgery to have it tested. And so my sister went through this cyst removal procedure to have the specimen tested thru biopsy. We waited around 2 weeks then for the result.

May 2019 – My sister received the biopsy result. The diagnosis said that she is positive of having a Stage 1 Breast freaking Cancer. It was a trembling day for every one of us.

The doctor advised her to have a mastectomy surgery immediately to prevent the spreading of cancer cells to other parts of her body. Also for my sister’s condition, the breast cancer cells have to be removed so that it can be tested to know the hormone receptors’ status for them to decide the best treatment option for my sister.

It was, of course, a hard decision for her to make as a woman. Yet, immediate action has to be made since every single day we do not know how this freaking cancer cells may grew or whatsoever in her body.

With the support of her husband and us, her family, we insisted to go ahead with the mastectomy procedure to prevent other further complications that may arise if we do not decide immediately.

So my sister went through mastectomy surgery just this month of May. She spent almost 7 hours inside the operating room. The specimen that was removed to her has to undergone biopsy and ER/PR/HER2 examination. We waited again weeks for the result. You may refer below photos for the details.

June 2019 – There now came the results. The biopsy test was good this time, but she got “triple positive” results on the ER/PR/HER2 examination. The only information I remember with this result is that those freaking cancer cells are aggressive. They have consulted an oncologist to know the treatment plans that will best defeat these cancer cells and the doctor suggested to have 4-6 sessions of chemotherapy and 18 sessions of Trastuzumab (also known as, Herceptin) therapy.

Unfortunately, this treatment plan is quite expensive. This therapy will be using 3 different drugs: one is Doxorubicin which costs around 128,000 pesos or 2,506 USD (16,000 pesos per vial x 8 vials); Cyclophosphamide which costs around 16,000 pesos or 313 USD (4,000 pesos per vial x 4 vials); and the Trastuzumab which costs around 1,440,000 pesos or 28,197 USD (80,000 pesos per vial x 18 vials). And these are just the medicines that my sister needs; there are other hospital bills and doctor fees to consider as well.

You may refer on the photos below for the estimated costs for this treatment protocol.

Our family and I have been doing everything that we can right now to be able to provide the funds that my sister needs for this treatment. She already applies for possible discount thru Roche Patient Access Program, we are also looking for other institutes, charity, and government programs that could help bring down the costs, her friends also made a ReaCHAble Hope Facebook page to sell pastries and items to help her for the funds she needs. As of now, she already had her 2^nd session of chemotherapy. Twenty to twenty-four sessions left still for this treatment protocol.

She is my only sister. I am still looking forward to see her live a long and healthy life and be a cool mom to her witty 4-year old daughter. I still look forward to annoy her and be my driver at times. I still look forward for her to be my partner in crime especially in surprising our Mudra. I still look forward to see her become a much better person that she wants to be. I still look forward to make lots of memories with her.

That is why I am doing this campaign to hopefully help fund the fight of my sister against Cancer. I hope this campaign will help us with the funds that my sister needs to beat those cancer cells and be healthy again. I and my sister, Cha, will be forever grateful for any help we will get.

*We also recommend that if you can, you may donate directly through bank deposits to avoid additional fees when donating through PayPal. You may deposit thru BDO account: Account Name: CHARISSE BERNADETT BARLAN / Account No.: 000890367345 or thru BPI account: Account Name: ADEL JEROME BARLAN / Account No.: 1539207659.

You can also donate through CREDIT or DEBIT Cards using the PayPal portal.