Escobedo Leukemia Fund

I am trying to raise some much needed money for my friends who are in need of help. My friend Yvette and her husband Mike have been together for about 19 years. They have five beautiful children; Michael 17, Destiny 16, Faith 8, and Hope 2. Mike also has a son Andrew 20, from a previous relationship. Yvette and I were pregnant with our sons and our youngest daughters at the same time. Although we live in different cities our boys have been best friends since birth and still get together from time to time.
Through those 19 years, they have had many ups and downs but now they are facing their biggest battle ever. About a year ago, Yvette had her thyroid removed. During that surgery, her vocal cords were damaged and she has difficulty breathing correctly. Also, this left Yvette unable to speak for a little over six months. She has been through rehabilitation to regain her voice, although she still struggles with noticeable side effects. Currently, she is still supposed to continue rehabilitation for her voice and breathing problems but has put her needs on hold for now because another tragic event has touched this family. On the first of May, her husband Mike who is 36 years old was diagnosed with AML, Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He has been out on disability for quite sometime and was going to have back surgery. They are not sure how long he has had it and now think the back pain problems may have also been because of the leukemia. Currently, Mike has had two rounds of chemotherapy. The first one wasn't successful. At this point, they are not sure if the second round was a success either. He will be receiving outpatient chemo at City of Hope until they can find a match for a bone marrow transplant. After testing their two oldest children, his wife, father, and brother none are a match. He is on the registry and hopes to find a donor.
They are in a race against time as most bone marrow donor registries are made up of few Hispanic or people of color and AML is an aggressive as well as a fast moving cancer. The chemo treatments have caused second degree burns on Mike's hands and feet. His wife, Yvette must clean the wounds and redress these areas often. It is heartbreaking to watch this brave father of four try to hold back the tears from the extreme pain in which he is dealing with. Yvette is doing her best to stay strong for her husband and the children even though she is still in a very frail state from her own health issues and the stress of her husband's cancer. Mike is living not only with the terrible side effects of chemo but also with the fear of leaving his beloved wife and children.
As a result of them both being unable to work at this time, they are having serious difficulty financially. Mike's co-pay for his medication is $800.00 a month. Their sixteen year old daughter, Destiny works at Aeropostale to help out her family. I am sure in the near future their medical bills and financial bills will accumulate and become even more overwhelming. For those of you who know Mike and Yvette and even those who don't. Any donations you can make to them would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you all for your help,
Melissa Carrillo