Help Raija Amayun fight a brain tumor

Hi, our names are Jason and Joshua Amayun and we're fundraising to help pay for our mother's treatment for a brain tumor.

In February of 2021, our dad contacted us to say that something was up with our mom's behavior. She had begun being forgetful and tired all the time. After an MRI it was revealed that she had a brain tumor, and we began looking into surgical options. She was repeatedly scheduled for admission to hospital, and then brain surgery but due to COVID and a fire at the hospital the admission and surgery were repeatedly postponed.

In late May of 2021 she finally was able to be admitted for brain surgery to remove the tumor, and the biopsy revealed that the tumor was malignant (glioblastoma IDH wild-type 4). The surgery was largely successful, with the doctors cautiously optimistic that the tumor was excised, but the biopsy necessitated additional therapy.

Because of this diagnosis, intravenous (IV) and tablet chemotherapy have been prescribed, along with radiation therapy. Though they live in the Philippines, the costs after insurance are still large (one round of treatment costs roughly 1.8 million pesos / 48,000 SGD / 47,000 AUD / 35,000 USD).

We are asking for help to pay for her treatment.

All funds raised will be used to directly pay for treatment. Of the initial amount needed, our family has sources close to 90% of the first round of treatment costs, with roughly 205k PHP (5500SGD / 5500AUD / 4000USD) remaining for the first round of treatment which is needed in the next 4 weeks.

There is a possibility a second round of treatment would be needed, and if so the need would increase by roughly 1.8 million pesos (48,000 SGD / 47,000 AUD / 35,000 USD). If the second round of treatment isn't needed, any additional raised money over treatment needs will be used for physiotherapy from the brain surgery.

My parents are both doctors, and have worked in charitable organizations for large portions of their careers. As such, the charitable organization which they were previously working for has covered some of the medical expenses via insurance but the annual limit has been reached necessitating this fundraiser. Their church community has been wonderful, taking care of them by visiting, providing meals and praying with and for them.


If you would like to donate, you can use the link above. Thank you for your consideration, and prayers for our mom's complete recovery are also greatly appreciated.

Jason and Josh

UPDATE:

On August 7th, some members of my (Jason) church community donated over SGD 7000 to our mom's treatment, so I have reduced the goal by the USD equivalent (~5000). We are so grateful for everyone's prayer, care, support and generosity.

Thank you.

By way of update, the last couple weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster. Before she wrapped up her last week of treatment, there was some sort of opportunistic infection and Raija was hospitalized. She got quite weak and was not able to eat orally and so had to be fed intravenously. Thankfully the infection was treated, and she was released from the hospital on Friday the 6th of August.

She’s not back to full strength yet, but she has been strong enough to begin eating again and resume chemotherapy. In addition, while she was hospitalized the doctors did a CT scan and they were not able to see recurrence. I’m waiting for my parents to update me on exactly what that means, after speaking to the oncologist, but at the least it’s good news that recurrence wasn’t visible. In addition, she will soon have a break from chemo- and radiation therapy, and the plan is to have an MRI on the 23rd of August to again detect for recurrence. Please pray that the imaging results would also be negative.

Thank you again, everyone, for your care and concern. We are so encouraged by everyone's love and support, and I will try to update this page regularly.

Jason