Help Christian Beat Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

My name is Jacqueline. I’m making this GoFundMe for a young man (18 years old) whose name is Christian. I took him in when he was 15 years old, so he has been with me for the past 3 years. I was a foster for him; he came from Guatemala with his brother.

He is such a great young man! A hard worker with some really big dreams. Unfortunately, two months ago, he came to me and told me he had a knot in his armpit, and it was aggravating him. I took him to the doctor, and they told us that it looked like a swollen lymph node and wanted us to get a biopsy on it. On the biopsy, they found that it was Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Cancer at 18. Just absolutely unbelievable. Now, only 6 weeks later, this cancer has really taken over not only his life but mine and our family’s as well. We came to the hospital yesterday (10/23/24) for a bone marrow biopsy, and they told me that he needed to go to the ER because the lymph node had started swelling into his airway and spinal cord and was growing around his neck.

They immediately admitted him into the hospital. They said his initial biopsy was infected, and the infection had spread to his blood, which is another big problem. After a very aggressive treatment of the infection, they have been able to get that under control. Thank God. They plan on starting chemotherapy on Saturday.

I own a small remodeling company and have been able to take care of things out of pocket so far, but it is quickly causing me to fall behind. Missing work and also paying to stay in temporary housing to be closer to the hospital, as well as transportation and bills just piling up. I’m starting to get overwhelmed financially as well as mentally. And so, a friend of mine suggested that I start a GoFundMe and just see if there are any amazing people out in this world who might be willing to help him. The prognosis is very good—as good as a cancer prognosis can be—but for someone his age and his health, he has an 80% chance of full recovery, but it will take a year or so to get him back to his full self. And that’s the best-case scenario. I don’t really know how to make one of these, so I’m just trying to provide as much information as I can so everyone can understand why I am asking for assistance. If you have read this far and you can’t donate, I completely respect that, but please send positive vibes or say a prayer because this incredible young man deserves a fighting chance at an amazing life that I know he is destined for.