Help Armando Fight Cancer

Some may or may not be aware, but this summer has been quite challenging for Armando Mercado. It all first started in August 2019 with some stomach pain, then difficulty eating or keeping food down, then blood in stool, and finally followed by a high fever (all separate occasions).

After several visits to the emergency room and specialists, doctors found an abscess/hole in his small intestine.  On September 11, 2019, Armando underwent emergency surgery and approximately 8 inches of his intestine was removed as it was infected due to the abscess/hole.  In an attempt to determine the cause of the abscess/hole, doctors sent the intestine that was removed for testing.

On September 22, 2019, Armando was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma. According to Armando’s oncologist, the cancer he has is “unique” based on his age and the subtype of cancer. The oncologist also indicated that since this type of cancer travels throughout the body, chemotherapy must be started as soon as possible.

As you can imagine, this was unexpected news for all of us but especially for Armando. Like many of us that know him well, we couldn’t understand how this could occur to someone who is always striving to live a healthy lifestyle. But as his doctor put it, this was unfortunately just bad luck.

Armando will commence his intense chemotherapy treatment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in mid-late October 2019. Doctors anticipate Armando undergoing the chemo treatment for about 18-24 weeks. After completing treatment, he will be carefully monitored for the year as the risk of the cancer spreading to other parts of the body (the central nervous system in particular) is very high. Due to the cancer and the chemotherapy treatment, Armando will be unable to work or do many of the things he loves (such as go to the movies and lift weights at the gym) during this time period.

Despite receiving all of this devastating news, Armando maintains a positive outlook and hopes to beat this with the support of his doctors, family and friends. Armando will be battling the biggest fight of his life these next several months. Our hope and purpose for this fundraising page is to help Armando focus on his fight against cancer and not worry about the financial burden this will bring to him and his family.

All monetary contributions will be used for:

-Medical bills (past and future bills)

-Medication

-Treatment related expenses

-Visits to the hospital and doctor

-Armando’s personal finances

Any contribution to Armando and the Mercado family will be greatly appreciated. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for helping and sending Armando and his family well wishes during this challenging time.


Sincerely,

The Mercado and Medrano family