Carla Kicks Cancer

This year has been difficult for us all. Our eldest cousin, Carla, like many of us, has been a strong prayer warrior for those experiencing hardships this past year. She has been a source of spiritual support for her friends and family members alike, who like the rest of the world, lost jobs, lost loved ones, or even got sick themselves. She remained faithful and prayerful even through losing her own uncle during the early part of the pandemic. In the midst of all the turmoil happening around her and thinking that stomach cramps and back pain were just a result of the piling stress, she was diagnosed with a rare cancer, a high grade uterine carcinosarcoma.  


In spite of the new diagnosis, she continued to put others before her, listened to their struggles, and prayed with them while secretly and silently starting her own battle against cancer through chemotherapy.


After sharing the news with her immediate and extended family, we witnessed an even greater strength and sense of resolve in our superhero cousin. Naturally, she was scared of the potential outcomes of therapy but remained determined to beat it. She tried her best to continue to live a normal life, all while enduring the physical and emotional toll of commencing chemotherapy. Though weak, her faith and her resilience never faltered, and rather than abandoning her students in the middle of the semester, she decided to continue teaching virtually.


This rare cancer is known to be aggressive, but we know our Ate Carla is more than willing to put up a fight!  After 4 cycles of chemotherapy treatments, the tumors shrank enough to finally have the doctors clear her for surgery.   While everyone was celebrating a much-needed Thanksgiving Holiday, our Ate Carla was recovering in the hospital having just completed a successful surgery, including the removal of multiple tumors.  Still, we faced another small obstacle as she was informed that she will likely need 3-6 more rounds of chemotherapy to ensure that the other cancerous cells fade away.


Since surgery, she has been on disability and the costs of surgery and cancer care are not fully covered by her medical insurance. After initially keeping afloat through the contributions through a small circle of loved ones, the costs are now starting to rise and she was informed of a potential out of pocket patient cost of $5,000- $10,000 for the surgery alone. With the rising costs and not being able to work full time in order to continue to cover the cost of rent, groceries, and the possibility of several more chemotherapy sessions, we realized it was time to seek the help of our community. 


We would love for our Ate Carla to just focus on her mental and physical recovery to continue her fight against Cancer. We understand it is a tough time for everyone financially so any contribution, large or small, will be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to assist financially, your prayers and continued well wishes will always be welcomed!!!
 



This is our Ate Carla: She is the eldest grandchild in our big Palanca family.  This automatically made her the wisest, most maternal, and most protective ate (big sister) ever--not just to her own immediate siblings, but for all of us in her extended family--we are sure this is true for even her closest friends. She left her life in the Philippines to help support her family back home and decided to pursue a vocation that was in her blood, education. While here in the US she has served through her Catholic ministry in Singles for Christ where she made forever friends and remained active in her church and community. She is not the type to ask for this type of help so we are coordinating this on her behalf to provide her with one less worry while on her cancer journey. We humbly ask for any contribution and again thank you all for taking the time to read this.

***The Beneficiary for this fund will be Ate Carla Palanca directly, you will see her legal name on the beneficiary list for this campaign so she can access the money herself for her medical bills and care. Listed as her legal name Maria Carla Palanca Gomez under beneficiary in our fundraising team!