Oscar is a loving son, wonderful dad, doting grandfather, and hardworking coworker of ours at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital. Oscar has worked at UCLA for 19 years as a nursing assistant giving the best possible care to his patients while always making his coworkers smile and laugh. In addition, Oscar is a military veteran who served in the US army for 14 years.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit Oscar hard financially and physically. While working diligently taking care of covid patients, Oscar became very sick with Covid-19 himself and was hospitalized nearly being placed on a ventilator. Oscar was not able to work for several months which drained him of his existing finances and benefits.

Oscar returned to work while still battling long haul covid symptoms such as headaches, fatigue and intermittent dizziness. He was determined to work because he loves taking care of patients and wanted to still provide for his family financially. Soon after returning to work at UCLA, Oscar noticed a lesion on his tongue. This lesion grew bigger and more painful with time. As a result, he seeked medical care and attention for the lesion. They did a biopsy and scan which sadly led to him being diagnosed with Stage 2 tongue cancer.

The team of doctors are going to operate on Oscar for 8-9 hours. He is going to have a tracheostomy and feeding tube after the surgery. Oscar was told by the Doctors that they might decide on having him go thru chemotherapy and radiation depending on the outcome of his surgery. Oscar will be off work indefinitely to fight this cancer. We are asking for whatever financial help you can give for Oscar to get him thru these challenging times ahead. We thank everyone in advance for any contributions.