Raffi's Road to Recovery

Hello, my name is Grace.
As a close and dear family friend, I would like to share Raffi’s story. Raffi is a 14 year old boy who was diagnosed with A.L.L- High Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in April 2015. His and his family’s lives were drastically changed when they heard the news.
Since Raffi’s condition is high risk, the amount of chemotherapy he has been receiving is much more intensive than the regular A.L.L leukemia patient. Through the process of intensified chemo therapy, he would constantly get very severe side effects, some of which were life threatening.
When Raffi would initially be admitted at the hospital for a 4 day treatment, he would end up staying for several weeks due to complications almost every single time. According to the doctors, Raffi must continue to take chemotherapy for 3 years and 3 months. When he’s home however-away from the medicines, and the doctors, and the sickly hospital beds-we are blessed to see the same old Raffi at home. Playing along, living his life to the best of his ability, the way he was living before. Unfortunately the family has seen a trending pattern with the chemo therapy treatments, lumbar punctures, and other medicines causing sometimes very scary, life-threatening reactions.
Due to his reactions to chemo medicine, several blood drops and transfusions, along with all other side effects, the unbearable pain, and the pleading that you couldn’t imagine, the family has decided for Raffi to stop the chemo therapy and start taking naturopathic medicines (a route that some/many have taken and proved to be an effective substitute to the chemotherapy treatment). Alongside naturopathic medicine, the family is also looking into cancer centers that use a medical route that doesn’t involve chemo therapies. Though not an easy decision to make, they believed that this was the only decision suitable for these circumstances.
I am reaching out to you as a friend of the family, as I know what they are going through, and how they are struggling to cover all the medical expenses. Raffi’s mother is out of work, as she has to stay with and care for him at all times including days in or out of the hospital. When Raffi is not in the hospital, there is at all times the hazard of him getting extreme fever, inflammation or excruciating pain all over his body. These things do happen often and when they do, Raffi must be rushed to the hospital immediately.
The family has always helped others in need, whenever they could and in any way that they could. Now they are greatly in need and struggling for others to help. Raffi’s father works very hard day and night, putting in extra hours every day to cover some of their expenses. Since they are a one person income family, times have never been tougher. Their main priority is to cover all of Raffi’s medical expenses.
In addition to any financial support, we ask for your most true and heartfelt prayers for his pain to be felt no longer. The most important thing we anticipate for Raffi is for him to have his life back. Every 14 year old child should get the privilege to live a happy and healthy life.
In hopes that the family will soon stand back on their feet again, they look forward to giving back and helping others to their potential ability. Any contribution, thoughts, and prayers are deeply and greatly appreciated.
God bless,
Grace Bernal



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