Beloved Dad

Dear Community,

On December 28th, 2022, my life changed forever. I was streaming and received a phone call from my mom, telling me my dad had to go the ER because of difficulty breathing. She told me the X-ray showed a complete whiteout on the left side. Being naive, I had no idea what this meant and assumed he was dealing with pneumonia. However, it was much worse as the doctors informed us that the whiteout was from malignant pleural effusion, which is fluid made up of cancer cells that build up between your lungs and chest. Malignant Pleural Effusion automatically means a cancer is Stage 4. To make matters worse, the doctors believed it to be Pancreatic Cancer, the most deadly cancer variant. After a biopsy was taken from the lymph nodes, we received "good" news. We found out he had Stage 4 Lung Cancer with a specific EGFR Mutation. This EGFR Mutation meant he could take a pill for treatment with minimal side effects compared to chemotherapy. Eventually, however, the cancer would mutate and find a mechanism to bypass the pill.

Over the next year from 2023 to 2024, I juggled streaming, visiting the hospital, and reading every research paper related to EGFR Lung Cancer. For a whole year, my dad spent roughly 1/3 of his time in the hospital due to frequent bouts with pneumonia and need for heart surgery/chest tubes. My dad approached every day exhibiting bravery and never wanted to give up on treatment. He fought till the end, showing me the power of perseverance and love.

I have set up this GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to cover a fraction of the expenses associated with my dad's funeral and medical bills. I had no idea about the exorbitant price of funeral arrangements. Your support means everything, and I urge everyone to not ignore any lingering pains or coughs as early detection is the meaningful difference in the fight against cancer.