Medical/Funeral Arrangements

Help Ed Fight Leukemia

A devoted father of four, a very loving husband, a great friend, and hard working man to provide for his family. Ed started feeling a bit fatigue and also began to feel pain on his left ankle around Memorial Day weekend of 2016. He thought it was his gout pain coming back. He decided to go to a doctor because the pain was not going away with over the counter pain medications.  Since he recently changed health insurance benefits in the beginning of the year, he was seen for a full physical check up, which included blood work. This was later followed by a second visit to the lab for another day of blood work. As a result, Ed was told that he had abnormalities with his blood cells; they were not forming maturely and he was immediately referred to a specialist for a consultation. After numerous visits and tests at the hospital, the doctors decided on a bone marrow tissue sample. Results came in and Ed was diagnosed with a blood cancer known as Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The shock and uncertainty of the news were very devastating for the family. As Father’s Day was approaching and his youngest son Evan’s birthday, Ed was given little time to decide to undergo treatment. Fear of the outcome of the treatment at its early stage, Ed decided to be admitted, with so much information and little time to digest what is about to happen to him and or what his body will go through to fight a battle for his life and family.

Chemotherapy was started the day after he was admitted to the hospital, June 24, 2016 and lasted for a week.  A week seems like an eternity for someone who has never been hospitalized. The aftermath of Chemo began, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, headaches and dizziness to name just a few. This lasted for six weeks, on the seventh week, another bone marrow aspiration was done to make sure that the cancers cells were treated. Good news, no cancers cells were found.

BUT the battle is not over, what was initially supposed to be a 30-day hospital stay became longer as each day passed without his bone marrow producing on its own. Ed was discharged from the hospital after two and half months of treatments and is continuing to fight and beat this terrible illness.

Another phase that his family endured, this past Thanksgiving Day, Ed was admitted for the second round of treatments to try and awaken his bone marrow.

After undergoing through many treatments and longer hospital stays, Ed began to lose hope. He was saddened by his inability to take care of himself and the burden he felt he put upon his family as well as the amount of medical expenses that are growing. Ed, being the type of person he is, always found a way to make the best of everything. Although Ed was depressed and many times didn't feel well, he would still make jokes and always found a way to put others needs before his own.

In the beginning of May this year, Ed was admitted to the hospital once again due to pneumonia. Things have dramatically changed for the worst. An array of tests and procedures were done to try and bring him back to his optimum health. Unfortunately, the damage is far too great and the nature of the beast is now far too advanced than any one of us is capable of taming.

Ed was apprehensive to reach out for help in the beginning and I’m glad he finally agreed to start this page. Asking for help is never easy, but as you can imagine, the unforeseen expenses has risen dramatically (medical bills, copayments, treatment costs, travel costs, lost wages) Ed and his family were not financially prepared for this. The funds for this campaign will help cover the expense of medical bills and the many other costs that Ed’s family is going to accrue. Please consider donating, any amount is greatly appreciated. Even small donations can make a difference in the world for Ed and his family.

On behalf of the Arciaga and De Guzman families, thank you in advance for your love and support.  Please continue to pray for Ed and his family and help spread the word.