Help Rachael Beat Cancer

Rachael will be 8 years old October 14, 2019. Her parents, Claudia and Rafael brought her to the doctors because of pain and constipation, never thinking the worst. Less than 24 hours admitted into the hospital, she had a laparoscopic surgery that removed her left ovary and fallopian tube. She had a small watermelon sized tumor growth that had spread to her omentum and intestines. After a few weeks following her surgery, Rachael was diagnosed with a mixed germ cell tumor consisting of an immature teratoma and yolk sac tumor. Following one month post surgery, Rachael's tumor had spread to one lung and lymph nodes in the abdomen. Rachael has completed one round of BEP chemotherapy and will have to undergo a series of chemotherapy treatments. She will have a second major surgery after 4 rounds of this chemotherapy too. Her chemotherapy regimen involve 5 days of chemo with 14 "days off". After her first round of chemotherapy, Rachael's nausea was out of control and had to spend 2 days at Dana Farber to receive nausea medicines and fluids. She has been at Dana Farber almost everyday since starting chemotherapy, and we are managing her symptoms well before the start of the next one. Rachael's family commutes 2-4 hours daily to continue to receive outpatient chemotherapy treatments, as she feels better at home. 

As Rachael's parents face the challenges ahead, her dad will have to put working on hold to be her caretaker. No one really knows what the range of medical expenses will be, but we are receiving monthly statements from both Boston Children's Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. We are asking for your help so that Claudia and Rafael can focus their energies on Rachael. They are reluctant to have me start this site as they feel blessed to have what they have. They can't thank the people at Dana Farber enough who have helped them through these incredibly difficult first couple of weeks.

We will keep everyone up to date on Rachael and her progress through Claudia Isabel Villatoro social media platform and on here. Please check back regularly if you want to see how Rachael is doing.

Every prayer, every positive thought, every dollar, and every gesture of support is greatly appreciated.

ANY AMOUNT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.