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Claire has been in California since Oct. 19! To read the latest news, please run a search on this page for the word "updates" and find the latest one. Alternate ways to donate are listed at the bottom of this section.
Ways to help:
- Instant with no fees: Donate via Zelle to Josh's email to route for Claire's care
- Donate on GiveSendGo (fees)
- Donate on GoFundMe (fees)
- Donate via PayPal
- Donate via Venmo: @Joshua-Chandra
As much of all donations here as possible will be directly routed to the family.
The Situation
Hi everyone,
My sister Claire was hospitalized for most of August through part of September in Aichi, Japan, where she has lived and worked for the past several years. What seemed like a routine period problem turned into the need for multiple blood transfusions and then a terrible diagnosis of Stage 3C dedifferentiated endometrial carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Claire had to get a full hysterectomy with removal of the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and right lymph node to stop the constant bleeding and to remove some of the cancer, but complications caused her a lasting AKI (acute kidney injury) to this day, which is preventing her from starting chemotherapy. After spending a month in the hospital, recovery from her condition has been alarmingly slow. While she was discharged and back at her apartment for some weeks, she has spent many days resting in bed and is unable to walk far before getting tired.
In late August, my older brother and our mother flew to Japan to support her in her time of need, as she currently lives alone. My brother has since returned to the U.S. after spending two weeks there, while Mom remains in Japan and will stay for as long as she can. She is currently grocery-shopping and cooking all of Claire's meals while helping her bathe and change clothes daily.
Apart from Claire's health issues, Japan is also a significant challenge for foreigners to be in; we are not Japanese and only Claire knows the language, which is a colossal hurdle. Additionally, with the summer heat (which is still ongoing and seems to be ending late), every day is incredibly hot and humid with a 50/50 risk of rain; merely walking a few minutes outside will leave one drenched in sweat and drained of energy, but our mother must visit a supermarket daily to buy fresh food for Claire to eat, because food in Japanese restaurants and convenience stores have too much sodium, sugar, and processed ingredients for her body to tolerate with the ongoing kidney damage.
It gets even more challenging as she lacks a car, so she can only carry so many groceries back home. Japan's public transport system is unfriendly to the ill and handicapped, as many subway stations lack proper ventilation, escalators, and elevators, which forces riders to walk up and down multiple flights of stairs. The next best option, a taxi, costs about 10x more than the subway; the hospital treating Claire is approximately 6.5 kilometers away from her apartment (about 4 miles) and a round trip via taxi costs an average of ¥7,000 (currently about $50 USD).
Expenses
We are asking for funds to help with the expenses needed for Claire's medical treatment as well as Mom's daily living expenses while in Japan, because neither of them is able to work, and Mom is taking FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) time off from her job back in Southern California. These expenses include:
- Daily groceries: having to shop daily causes expenses to pile up quickly. In addition, one major product that has hit serious inflation in Japan is their staple food of plain white rice: just a 10kg bag of rice (22lb) costs over ¥8,000, which is over $50 USD. For comparison, in Southern California, a 50lb sack of rice, which is over twice as big, easily costs under $40. See: Rice price inflation in Japan eases to 90.7% (July 2025)
- Transportation: for the daily subway fare, and taxi fares as needed. Should Claire return to the U.S. for further treatment, we would need to budget an airline ticket for her as well.
- Medical costs: while the Japanese health care system will cover the majority of her costs, she is still responsible for paying a portion of the cost of direct medical treatment. The hospital also charges for other amenities during a hospital stay; the most significant is to have her moved into a private room as opposed to sharing a ward with 3 other patients, which makes sleep almost impossible due to a constant influx of nurses and other staff coming in and out to check on the patients. During Claire's first hospitalization, she spent three weeks in a shared room before requesting to be moved into a private room and was charged ¥9,300/day (over $60/day) for a week, totaling to over ¥65,000, or over $400 USD. If she needs to be hospitalized again, we don't know how long she may have to stay.
- Apartment bills: the monthly rent and utilities, as well as other expenses, such as bathroom amenities and kitchen supplies.
We also ask for those who read this to please offer prayers of healing for Claire as well as Mom to stay healthy, hopeful, and strong during this ordeal. We love them deeply and will do whatever we can to support them. Thank you very much for reading our story, and may God's love and protection envelop them!
- Josh and the rest of the family
More reading on Claire's rare, tough form of cancer: Dedifferentiated Endometrial Carcinoma
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