Hi Everybody, Wyatt Miller here with some unfortunate news about our family here in Baja.

Please help us save Juliancito’s Mom, Nidia, from aggressive HER2+ Breast Cancer

It is with a heavy heart that I have to lay this situation out there. Most all of you who have been down to visit us in Baja at Pro-Windsurf La Ventana over the years have come to know our ripping little 14-year-old windsurfing and winging protégé Juliancito, his dad Julian, and his mom Nidia plus their new baby girl Carolina. Juliancito can usually be seen doing winging backflips on the water, helping guests schlep their gear up the beach, or beating us all in “The Ring Game” in the palapa. His dad, Julian, who works with us here at PWLV, we have known since he was a little 14-year-old windsurfer from La Paz, the same age as Juliancito is now. The whole family has been with us through thick and thin since we started our little windsurf center.

This season started off great, but as we were about a week into setting up, Juliancito’s family discovered that his mom Nidia had a lump in her breast. We went straight to the private hospital in La Paz for a mammogram and then a biopsy which all came back positive for breast cancer. She had received an ultra-sound checkup 11 months prior, so the doctors think the cancer is fairly new. The MRI revealed it had not yet spread to her lymph nodes, but that was the end of the good news.

Further tests showed it to be a more aggressive HER2+ form of cancer that would need immediate treatment and surgery.

Then came the next blow when her genetic tests came back positive for a genetic predisposition to cancer despite not having any family history. The awful part about this last diagnosis is that she will need a DOUBLE MASTCTOMY plus a HYSTEROCTOMY (Removal of both breasts and her uterus) in addition to monitoring for any cancer for the rest of her life.

Julian and Nidia and their 2-year-old, Carolina, have moved back in with relatives in La Paz so they can rent out their house here in La Ventana to make some money for the cancer treatment. Juliancito has been living with us here so that he can keep attending middle school in town.

Mexico does have a public health system and we are trying to get as much covered through that as we can, but it is not certain that they will have the very specific chemo drugs needed to fight the aggressive HER2+ cancer, and she will need to have the surgery done privately to make sure it happens soon enough after her chemo to be effective. The public hospital already lacked the “Clips” that were needed to implant and tag her cancer growths so the doctors can locate and remove the tumors after they shrink during chemo. We had to purchase the clips for $500 each from the private hospital. We have also had to pay for the CAT Scans and she will need to continue with CAT Scans every 3 months for the next two years at $500 USD each.

Nidia started chemo on November 16th and will need 6 sessions over the next 4.5 months. The public hospital had the specific drug for the 1st session, but there is no guarantee that they will have it for all 6 chemo sessions. If they don’t have the drug we will need to pay $8,000 USD for the drug and have it administered at a private hospital. Skipping or delaying a chemo session is not an option.

This could cost as much as 5 sessions X $8,000 = $40,0000 USD

After the chemo is done, she will need to have both breasts and her uterus removed. If we tried to do this at the public hospital it would take over 6 months for an appointment and we would lose the window for effectiveness.

The Private Hospital cost for the surgery which will happen in April will be about $60,000 USD.

Luckily, they have good public Radiotherapy here in La Paz so her daily radiation for 21 days straight after chemo will be free.

Then she will need 1 year of Cancer Growth Blockers some or all of which will need to be paid out of pocket. The injections happen every 21 days so she needs 17 sessions at $3,500 each for a total of $59,500 USD.

Best Case Scenario: $60,000 USD – for surgery to remove both breasts and uterus. Ongoing CAT Scans.

Worst Case Scenario: $159,500 USD

Public hospital doesn’t have the drug for the remaining 5 chemo treatments = $40,000

Surgery to remove both breasts and her uterus = 60,000 USD

Public hospital doesn’t have the cancer growth blockers = $59,500 USD

I know this is a lot to ask, and I really can’t believe any of this is happening to poor 33-year-old Nidia. I honestly can’t stop crying as I write this. Any help you can give will be hugely appreciated; it is going to be a long road for the whole family.

This funds from this fundraiser will go directly to Nidia Castro Maldonado. We are currently trying to add her as the beneficiary. If GoFundMe can not transfer funds to her Mexican bank account, then I will transfer them to my account and send it to her account. Nidia is a good friend of mine and wife of my business partner Julian Diaz Castro.

Thanks everybody,

Wyatt Miller