Help Tatiana through her cancer battle

Tatiana Franco lives in Salinas, Ecuador with her children, and is one incredibly strong and resilient woman. Ten years ago, she fought head and neck cancer and won. Now the papillary cancer has metastasized; spreading throughout her neck, parotid gland,  and nasal cavities making it difficult to breathe and eat. During our first Blanca's House medical mission to Ecuador in 2008, we met Tatiana.  At only 27 years old, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and her Ecuadorian doctors at that time told her to return home and make her final arrangements. Having met her and reviewing her scans, we knew there was a good chance to revise that scary statement.  Taking care of all her expenses, we arranged her travel to Long Island, New York and she was successfully operated on by a team of doctors at Stony Brook Medical Center...the result: her cancer was in remission. As the Co-Executive Director of Blanca’s House for the past 11+ years, Tatiana and I have become friends.  We text just about every day and I have seen her travel through her cancer battle.      October, 2018: Valerie, Tatiana, and Samanta in Salinas, Ecuador Fast forward to 2018...Tatiana's cancer has returned.  And now, in 2020, the cancer’s toll on Tatiana’s body is heart-wrenching. She has lost a lot of weight, verbal communication is limited, difficulty with everyday chores, difficulty breathing and uses a feeding tube. Her resiliency and fighting attitude have allowed her to see her oldest son graduate from high school and continue to take care of her middle son and 10-year-old daughter, although it is difficult for her to do so because she is so weak. Tatiana continues to be one strong and resilient woman. She is working hard to be there for her children as long as she can. Still struggling through a COVID environment, her oldest son cannot find employment and her two younger children have not been able to attend school in a virtual world since they have no internet. Tatiana is traveling four hours round trip to Guayaquil for chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and labs, which she does weekly. In addition to providing $60.00 for transportation to chemo, we have been sending $150.00 biweekly for food for the children and protein formula for Tatiana’s feeding tube. We couldn’t have done this without your previous donations…Only $536.00 remains in the account. We have stretched the original donations as far as possible. Please, please consider making a donation. The thought of not being able to provide money for food is heartbreaking, These are photos of Tatiana's casita (home) in Salinas...for her and her three children