Help Us Help Xiomara "Cici"

Hello beautiful souls, my name is Wanda Díaz and this is my story…

I am a mother of two beautiful daughters, Yelixa and Xiomara.   My two daughters and I relocated to the U.S. from Puerto Rico about 18 years ago, and now Cici (Xiomara’s nickname) lives in Maryland, Yelixa in Miami, and I in Texas. Our small family has always considered Cici to be the creative and happy free spirit, and life of the party until her life started to change six years ago. Cici, who was on her late 30’s, started experiencing symptoms of anxiety, difficulties with focusing, dizziness, seizures and tremors.  After several tests, her doctors discovered a small tumor that was located in the brain stem; an extremely sensitive area. We were devastated, but never lost our faith. 

Cici underwent various surgeries and treatments. At first the surgeons were unable to remove the tumor and her worsening symptoms were treated with medication. A year after, she started an aggressive radiation therapy at John Hopkins Hospital.  After several months passed by, the doctors informed her that the tumor was growing again, so they decided to do another surgery to try to remove it.   Luckily and with a lot of prayers, the surgeon was able to remove the tumor.   Cici started to recover, but shortly after she began to experience tremors, and she was diagnosed multiple sclerosis (MS).   We were in shock and devastated once again, but always showing her our love, support and faith. We could not understand why this was happening to our wonderful girl. The symptoms started to affect Cici’s performance at work as a Certified International Flight Coordinator in Annapolis. She was already having difficulties with memory due to the radiation, and now she was (and still is) constantly tired and was late for work due to the MS symptoms.  After more than 10 years of being reviewed as an excellent International Flight Coordinator, her employer “let her go” on August of 2019.  Cici has been unemployed since then and struggling.   As a small family, we try to help and support her, but it is not possible for us to keep up.   I was laid off in October 2019 and I am still unemployed.   Her sister in Miami had to take a huge pay cut recently due to the Coronavirus situation that affected the hospitality business tremendously and for Cici, life in Maryland is very expensive.

In the meantime, Cici has no health insurance; we cannot afford the high monthly payments.  She is not taking any MS medication because this medication is extremely expensive. Instead, she is taking all-natural remedies to deal with her progressive symptoms, which are tremors, extreme fatigue, brain fog and pain all over her body.  Many people do not know that there is no cure for MS and that the side effects of all the medications are incredibly serious or fatal.   Due to the fact that Cici had a brain tumor, she is very concerned about these side effects and will have to meet with a doctor to discuss her options.  Cici is also now experiencing side effects of radiation affecting her ovaries and thyroid.   Getting approved for Disability has been another challenge, as the process is extremely slow.   We are still following up with Social Security and it is still in the early stages.   She is receiving unemployment which only helps with groceries and the electricity bill.  She used to have someone with her, who helped with half of the bills, but the person decided to leave, and now Cici is all alone struggling with all of this.  For now, it's just Cici and her lovely companion, Gaia.

I am a very private person and this is the first time I am telling our story “out there”, Cici’s story. This is also the first time I use GoFundMe as a tool to connect with people that we know and with those that we do not know yet since I am sure you all have big hearts. We want to help Cici stay at home and pay her bills until she gets her Disability approved and able to relocate to a less expensive city closer to relatives. As a mother, I want to see Cici happy, healthy and free from anxiety and additional worries.   She has too much to handle right now… she deserves joy and peace.

For these reasons, we are asking for donations to help Cici pay for her medical expenses, utilities, groceries, mortgage, until she is able to sell her house and move. If you wish to make a donation, every little thing counts and will make a difference.   If you are not able to donate, could you please include Xiomara(Cici) in your prayers.

Thank you in advance from Cici, Yelixa and Wanda.   May God keep you safe and healthy!

Any remaining amount will be gladly donated to the National MS Society:
https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Chapters/MDM
 

Please share, we are forever grateful!!