Hi Friends and Family, I am Gabe’s mother-in-law and I am reaching out to ask for your help as they navigate this chapter in their lives.

When Gabe was three, he was diagnosed with a Wilm’s tumor. Gabe had surgery to remove his left kidney and underwent cancer treatment at UCLA. Gabe has since been cancer free for 30 years. At the end of November, Gabe became sore after a softball game. The soreness in his back and hips seemed to linger longer than it should have and continued to get worse. An MRI was done which showed a mass at the base of his spine, on the left side, in the sacrum which was compressing his S1 nerve. We have been back and forth to UCLA for appointments and tests. It was determined the mass is a rare form of cancer called leiomyosarcoma.

Due to the type and location of the mass, his team at UCLA is wanting all of Gabe’s treatments to be completed at UCLA. They need to shrink the mass to surgically remove it. Tentatively, he will be admitted to UCLA for 1 week of inpatient Chemo on February 21. They are estimating 5 weeks of radiation and then surgery, all at UCLA. However, how the tumor reacts will determine the exact timeline and treatments.

This is going to be very difficult on all of them emotionally and financially. We have set up this GoFundMe with the hopes of relieving some of the financial pressures of the medical bills, traveling, loss of work and costs for lodging while at UCLA.