Help the Kim Family Fight for a Cancer Miracle

Dear Friends,

A Little Bit About Our Story:

My dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer on his birthday this year. There is no stage 5. Pancreatic cancer is considered the most lethal cancer with a 5-year survival rate of about 10%. At Stage IV for him, it is 1%.

The initial week was excruciating, waiting for test results, while seeing my dad look sickly and frail, with a tube going through his nose to his stomach to relieve the intestinal blockage. He was unable to eat or drink anything for days and could barely speak. At the same time, I was reliving the beginning of my worst nightmare: when I was 19, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I had to stop college to go through chemotherapy and radiation. It was just my single dad and I back then. I am fortunate to be here today as a survivor, but cancer has truly devastated our family: alongside my own battle, my dad’s younger sister, Auntie Grace, lost her fight against breast cancer 2 years ago and my dad’s father also passed away from lung cancer.

I can’t believe this is happening again to my beloved father with such a seemingly hopeless road ahead. Currently, he’s receiving multiple aggressive drugs every other week as part of his chemotherapy. His oncologist is keeping close watch and is concerned because of how weak and malnourished he is–he’s already lost 20% of his body weight. To be able to eat at all, he had gastrointestinal bypass surgery, but because the cancer has spread to all around his stomach and GI track, trying to drink and eat even a little bit each day is a challenge. There are additional challenges imposed by chemo treatment as well, like the need for a 24-hour IV to receive some basic nutrition (although this TPN bag poses a high risk for bacteria and infections).

Our family and community are continuing to pray for a miracle, and we will not give up until the very end. Rather than reminding my dad of the statistics, I want to remind him how much he has worth fighting for. Over the last 7 years, my dad has built a wonderful marriage with Lucia, who I consider my mom and a real-life angel who changed our lives. He has also been a wonderful father in raising my two dear younger siblings, Farzan and Fatimah.

We are a very hard-working, humble, close-knit family, and my parents are very active, beloved members of their church community. My dad is fighting to get through each day, bearing the physical/mental/emotional pain, with hardly any energy, and during this time, the one thing I don’t want my dad to worry about is finances. Since I was a kid, it has always broken my heart to see our family not be able to catch a break, often working to make ends meet (I like to think chronic, unmanaged stress is a silent killer and a cause for cancer; and both my dad and I have often been overwhelmed by financial worries). On top of not bringing in a consistent income now, we have piling medical bills and ongoing expenses related to all the care needed for his handicapped and chemotherapy living needs. Our only priority right now is fighting this battle with my dad (physically and keeping his mental will strong), and then just having quality time to spend together. We have no idea how he will take such aggressive chemo in his fragile condition, and he is severely immunocompromised and any infection could be an end, so in that sense, each day feels terrifying.

However, this is a rally and cry for a miracle - that with continued care we can improve his quality/length of life, and at the same time, that my father will not give up on himself or us.

Why We Need Help:

Our family has been doing everything to stay strong for my dad, but we need your help during this difficult time. My dad was making the household income at his IT job (to support his wife and my two younger siblings in college) and is unable to work for the rest of the time he may have left. I am not working to be able to take care of my dad and spend as much time as we can.

My dad requires 24-hour aide and is mostly bed-ridden - preparing meals, numerous medications, driving to appointments, constant monitoring of his multiple IV lines, showering, bathroom, unable to walk on his own, and so forth). My mom and I are doing our best to be caretakers and keep the family afloat but it can feel like an unbearable weight on our shoulders, on top of additional financial strains.

Whenever my dad’s family, friends, and community encourage him, provide any support, or just keep praying for him, it gives him the strength and hope he needs. Any donations would be sincerely appreciated by my whole family and every bit will make a difference in our day-to-day needs.

Thank you for taking the time to hear our story. It would mean so much if you could help spread the word and share this link <3 <3 <3