EOL Medical Fund for Tulio Mesa

Hello Readers of GoFundMe,

My name is Carlos Guerra and I am raising funds for one of my best friends.

"My name is Tulio Mesa (the guy in the picture) and here is my story....

I was 21 and in college, and one day I noticed that I got kidney stones, I went to to the doctor where they explained to me that all they had to do was crush them and remove them....so I did. But the kidney stones came back worse and they wouldn’t go away.

Around Christmas time it got worse, pain in my kidney and bladder and blood clots everywhere, I went to the emergency room where they told me I might have a Benign tumor and they had to run some biopsies... so much for Christmas at home. 

They did biopsies of my kidney, lymph nodes, and nothing was found. I was then tested for TB, tested for diseases I never heard of and all came back negative. I had a small surgery where they made three holes to test the lymph nodes again... negative. Around July they decide to do a bigger surgery on my back to take a look.....mind you it’s mid July. The doctors have performed their biopsies and couple days later they diagnosed me with Renal Clear Cell cancer. Needless to say they wanted to operate as soon as possible....

On my 22nd birthday, they had scheduled yet ANOTHER surgery. They removed my kidney and diagnosed me with stage 2 B cancer. Needless to say I felt great and lived my normal life. On my regular to my routine check up, the doctors found a lymph node that was swollen, I went in for an MRI biopsy. The story gets worse from there....the cancer had spread there. I was devastated. 

The doctors had told me about a drug called Votrient, which would slowly shrink the cancer. If not, stabilize it.

The side effects were brutal. My skin had turned yellow, my hands and feet became swollen red, where I couldn’t walk or hold items. My hair turned white, it cause me to have hypothyroidism, and high blood pressure. I couldn’t have the pleasure to enjoy food and this went on for about two years...

Unfortunately, the medicine started to fail. The doctors had given me an option to

1) Take a similar drug or
2) Go through a new treatment called immunotherapy. The effects it did was use your own cells to slowly stack the cancer from the inside. The side effects were minimal, I felt like I got my identity back and once again to live my normal life. I underwent 8 sessions, but sadly the medicine unfortunately failed. 

I had fallen in pneumonia at the time and the doctor started me on a similar drug like Votrient but after 8 doses it gave me a mini stroke which landed me in the hospital. Needless to say that wasn’t an option for me....

The doctors acted quickly and sent me to Connecticut to undergo another treatment  called IL-2, said it was a faster but more dangerous way of attacking the cancer. I took the treatment and it was harsh. I ended up in the ICU under constant watch, blood presses bottomed out, my only kidney started failing. I finished the treatment and they sent me home, this would be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life.

I went back home and the doctors started me on a new line of treatment of immunotherapy, which to my body did not respond well. Unfortunately, the cancer had already spread to other parts of the body all over my stomach, my spinal cord and all I lost my appetite. I lost a lot of body mass, and I had ran out of options. No more treatments for me, now I’m home under hospice care. My parents struggled to help me and Connecticut has me pegged for a large medical bill, which we now can’t afford. Now all that’s left is my fate in Gods hands and I’m hopeful for a miracle but who knows l, the way it’s spread its highly unlikely I’ll make it."

Carlos again here - Tulio has finished his EOL treatment and the doctors have no idea how much time Tulio has left. So what's next?

I am setting this fund in order to cover cost on Tulio's medical expenses and help his family on his post EOL phase. His mother is currently not working at the moment and currently attending his son.  I ask my friends and random people in the depths of the internet for help. Even if it’s a dollar, it would be gratefully appreciated it if this would help him and his family out. And as I would consider him a brother of him going out of his way helping people out, I ask YOU, go out of your way to help him out. Or just repost this to spread the word. Thank you for your time and your clicks. God bless