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Help Benny win his battle against Lymphoma!
Ben's Story:
As some of you may know, our hilarious, gregarious Benny has been enjoying life in beautiful Puerto Rico for over a decade. He is a talented chef and musician and has been a beloved resident of Aguadilla making folks laugh and serving his delicious menus at El Picnic. Anyone who has heard him play drums and tasted his food or had him give you the shirt off his back knows a heart this big is a rare thing indeed.
Life was moving along until Benny recently landed in the hospital. He had a few signs off and on that something wasn’t quite right with his system and began taking better care of himself. It was once he had a mass form very quickly on his cheek and neck that he knew he needed medical attention right away. The mass was assumed to be a tooth that became infected and when he went in for treatment things moved quickly from just a dental matter to learning through a CT scan that he was battling something very different, Lymphoma.
Benny was quickly transferred from Aguadilla to San Juan to ensure care in a better hospital for testing and treatment. Initial treatment was to administer a powerful steroid to prevent the Lymphoma from his face and neck spreading to his brain. While we waited on the results from his cheek and the much more intense bone marrow biopsies, we were encouraged that he responded quickly to the steroid treatment and the mass on his face and neck began visibly shrinking everyday. It’s so great for all of us to see his handsome smile again! More good news came shortly after when the bone marrow biopsy showed it hasn’t spread to his bones, another good sign!
Things got more intense after the initial round of biopsy results came in. Benny was diagnosed with Plasmablastic Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Further testing for information on the stage of his Lymphoma along with more details for 20% of his tumors are expected soon. He is currently still admitted in San Juan at the top hospital for Oncology receiving the best treatment available. He began an aggressive first round of chemotherapy on his birthday, September 14th and after already spending 1 month in the hospital, he is expected to be here another 3-4 weeks and medical expenses are already adding up. So this is where you guys come in!
Benny has a long road of treatment ahead and this fund has been set up to help support Benny on this journey for the fight of his life. Honestly, the whole idea of this fund makes him feel squeamish but we know he needs the support and have stepped in with grateful hearts to ask the community to rally around him. All funds raised will go directly towards Benny’s medical related expenses and support with living and commuting costs as he continues to undergo several rounds of Chemotherapy. He is a hard-worker and eager to get back to his life in Aguadilla so let’s do everything we can to support his goals!
He is, of course, charming the hospital staff with his hilarious and loving personality and deeply appreciates the messages of love and support you all have sent to him. All of this good energy is what keeps him fighting. We will do our best to keep you updated here and on you can follow his progress on Facebook.
Let’s get Benny better, together!
With gratitude,
Annie (Ben’s sister)
Ben's Story:
As some of you may know, our hilarious, gregarious Benny has been enjoying life in beautiful Puerto Rico for over a decade. He is a talented chef and musician and has been a beloved resident of Aguadilla making folks laugh and serving his delicious menus at El Picnic. Anyone who has heard him play drums and tasted his food or had him give you the shirt off his back knows a heart this big is a rare thing indeed.
Life was moving along until Benny recently landed in the hospital. He had a few signs off and on that something wasn’t quite right with his system and began taking better care of himself. It was once he had a mass form very quickly on his cheek and neck that he knew he needed medical attention right away. The mass was assumed to be a tooth that became infected and when he went in for treatment things moved quickly from just a dental matter to learning through a CT scan that he was battling something very different, Lymphoma.
Benny was quickly transferred from Aguadilla to San Juan to ensure care in a better hospital for testing and treatment. Initial treatment was to administer a powerful steroid to prevent the Lymphoma from his face and neck spreading to his brain. While we waited on the results from his cheek and the much more intense bone marrow biopsies, we were encouraged that he responded quickly to the steroid treatment and the mass on his face and neck began visibly shrinking everyday. It’s so great for all of us to see his handsome smile again! More good news came shortly after when the bone marrow biopsy showed it hasn’t spread to his bones, another good sign!
Things got more intense after the initial round of biopsy results came in. Benny was diagnosed with Plasmablastic Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Further testing for information on the stage of his Lymphoma along with more details for 20% of his tumors are expected soon. He is currently still admitted in San Juan at the top hospital for Oncology receiving the best treatment available. He began an aggressive first round of chemotherapy on his birthday, September 14th and after already spending 1 month in the hospital, he is expected to be here another 3-4 weeks and medical expenses are already adding up. So this is where you guys come in!
Benny has a long road of treatment ahead and this fund has been set up to help support Benny on this journey for the fight of his life. Honestly, the whole idea of this fund makes him feel squeamish but we know he needs the support and have stepped in with grateful hearts to ask the community to rally around him. All funds raised will go directly towards Benny’s medical related expenses and support with living and commuting costs as he continues to undergo several rounds of Chemotherapy. He is a hard-worker and eager to get back to his life in Aguadilla so let’s do everything we can to support his goals!
He is, of course, charming the hospital staff with his hilarious and loving personality and deeply appreciates the messages of love and support you all have sent to him. All of this good energy is what keeps him fighting. We will do our best to keep you updated here and on you can follow his progress on Facebook.
Let’s get Benny better, together!
With gratitude,
Annie (Ben’s sister)