Bringing Mae Home & Support for her Family

Hi, my name is Susie Ban and I am raising funds for Marife (Mae) Monje.

Mae has been living abroad in the Cayman Islands for the last 9 years working tirelessly to be able to provide a better life and future for her family back home in the Philippines. In 2012 Mae made the difficult choice to leave behind her two children, Alexis & Ashley, as well as her husband Alexander to move abroad where she would have a better opportunity to work hard and earn money to better support her family. For nine years she has been working and living in the Cayman Islands. Nearly a decade spent apart, Mae has missed countless birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, as well as family difficulties and times of hardship back home. All this was soon to end as Mae's time in Grand Cayman was coming to an end and it was time for her to return home to her family.

Marife's 9 year work permit was due to expire at the end of August 2021. She had scheduled her return trip home with excitement and was tying up her final loose ends as well as spending the precious time she had left on island with her two sisters who also live in Cayman- Rubilyn and Velen, as well as her niece Cristel. These lovely hard working women had each other for support and created a lovely sense of home and family while away from their loved ones and children.

In early 2021 Mae began to develop a cough. Brushing it off a few times she finally went to see a doctor where they believed it to be asthma and treated her with an inhaler. She continued to work and pushed it to the back of her mind. Fast forward to July, Mae started experiencing some pain and swelling in her leg and it became increasingly difficult to walk. At first this was thought to be a possible blood clot- however doctors did mention that there was a possibility of it being something worse. This was the first time she heard the horrible word and was told that there was a possibility that she may have some form of Cancer.

As her return to the Philippines was just a few short weeks away, Mae decided to wait until she returned home to proceed with the biopsies and potential care she may need. As biopsy results could take several weeks to be analyzed and documented here in Cayman, she would already be home when treatment would begin to commence. Final travel arrangements were made, wheel chair assistance was organized to aid her as her ability to walk was decreasing, and she was cleared by her doctor and set to fly home on Saturday August 28th, 2021.

Friday August 27th Mae was packed up and ready to go, enjoying her final afternoon with her sisters and niece before going home to be reunited with her children and husband. Although it would be bittersweet to leave them behind, she was overjoyed to be returning home.

However tragedy struck that night. Only hours before she was due to board her flight home, Mae was rushed to the hospital after experiencing a series of strokes on Friday evening. She was immediately taken in for an MRI where doctors discovered that she had very advanced Cancer which had spread to her liver, lungs, heart and brain. This came as a shock to her family as she had lived a healthy and active life.

Mae is currently in critical condition and is being cared for at Health City Cayman Islands Hospital. Her ICU medical bills are increasing by the hour, however her condition isn't improving. The medical team has performed a biopsy to try and learn more about the type of Cancer she has in an attempt to see if there is a treatment plan that they can move forward with. Her condition is extremely fragile, as the Cancer is aggressive and has spread extremely fast.

We have been told to pray for a miracle and every day that is what we are doing. We are raising funds to be able to cover her Medical expenses, help support her family, and hopefully return Marife home to the Philippines to be with her family again. We are hoping every day for improvement and counting every day as a victory. Please help us make sure that Mae has the best possible care and treatment available.

Every penny, every share, and every prayer counts!