Help Us Save Our Dad Andy Palma

This campaign first launched in 2018. Original story below. Please see updates for current information.

Hi Everyone,

We are Andrew and Ashley Palma and our dad is in desperate need of help to get lifesaving medical care and medication.  Our mom and dad (Andy & Rosemary) are unable to pay for these critical and very urgent expenses due to our dad’s lost wages for the last two years and the loss of his health insurance. The monthly cost for needed medical care, medication, blood work, imaging, follow up cancer care, and screenings will cost anywhere from $2,000 - $3,000.  The costs are overwhelming but we believe that together we can give our dad a fighting chance and hope.  

Background
Our mom and dad have been happily married for 29 years.  They were married when our dad was 19 and our mom was 18.  After only one year of marriage, tragedy struck when our mom’s mother (our nana) was shot and killed in a murder suicide.  Our parents became the instant parents of our mom’s three brothers Anthony, Pablo, and Sergio, ages 3, 6, and 14. 

We can’t imagine how difficult it was to take in three children at our parent’s young age just when they were starting out their lives together.  Our mom and dad didn’t think twice about what needed to be done to ensure that our mom’s three brothers would be given the best life possible making sure they would raise their new family as their own children.   

Our dad worked hard to provide for our family while working to obtain his Bachelor’s degree and eventually his Master’s degree.  Our mom worked very hard to make sure that her brothers were given a great home where they knew that they were loved.

Our parents selflessly took the responsibility of raising their family and knew that God would provide for their needs. This is just one example of what defines the type of people our mom and dad are. We are blessed to have the parents we have. 

They have given us a great life and have made many sacrifices to ensure that all of us were given the best opportunity to succeed. They did whatever they could to make sure they never missed a dance recital, football game, gymnastics meet, or anything else we were involved in.

Our parents have always been there for us and raised all of us to value God, family, and friends. Today, they give us their full support in our professional dance and dance instruction careers and continue to care and advocate for Pablo and Anthony who have been developmentally disabled since birth.

Their whole lives have been devoted to all of us including helping and being there for family and friends.


OUR DAD’S HEALTH

Our Parents have endured several major family tragedies throughout their marriage and have always been able to overcome them together through their dependence on God. Through all of it they worked hard and were blessed to achieve many of their goals related to their family and their careers.

However, the most recent health issues with my dad have made it very difficult for them to overcome their massive financial needs. Now, they are in need of help and we need help to do all we can to keep our dad’s conditions from progressing to a point where his health will overtake him. Unless we can find a way to help our dad, we know that his body won’t be able to hold up to the unbearable pain and diseases for long!

Our dad started getting sick more than six years ago. His health continually declined and his illness progressed to a point where he was in severe and constant pain throughout his body. Friends and family pooled their resources to get our dad to a doctor.  Since he wasn’t working, our parents were unable to afford health insurance. 

Dad was diagnosed with multiple digestive disorders.  Imaging and blood tests showed a cancerous tumor in his right kidney which was considered an incidental finding that didn't produce any of his symptoms. 

Dad was finally able to get health insurance and about a year ago had surgery to remove the tumor and fortunately, only half of his right kidney.  As expected, the cancer was not the cause of our dad’s symptoms and he needed several tests to identify the source of his pain. It turns out that our dad has more than 20 diagnosed medical conditions and just as many medications. A partial list of his health conditions are:

·        Portal Hypertension with Liver Damage
·        Rheumatoid Arthritis
·        Candida Overgrowth (overproduction of bad
          bacteria in the body)
·        Degenerative Disc Disease
·        Polyarthritis
·        Diabetes
·        Small Fiber Neuropathy
·        Peripheral Neuropathy
·        Overactive Gall Bladder
·        Fibromyalgia
·        Severe Allergic Rhinitis

Another major setback happened two months ago when our dad was informed that he would be losing his health insurance coverage. One week prior to losing his health insurance, dad was diagnosed with liver damage and portal hypertension resulting from toxins in his blood from candida overgrowth and food sensitivity.  As a result of the portal hypertension and liver damage, our dad’s liver is unable to fully filter the toxins from his blood.  The toxins in the blood are continually cycling throughout his body including his heart, lungs, and brain.

The doctors have told our parents that dad cannot afford to be without his medication and medical care.  It is unknown at this point what stage the disease has progressed to and what treatment our dad needs. The disease needs to be treated urgently because at a minimum he needs medication and medical tests to understand if he needs a liver transplant, shunts to unblock his portal veins, and/or banding of varices which can easily bleed.  

Ruptured varices can result in death. If a rupture occurs and our dad survives it, chances are that his life expectancy beyond one to three years would be very slim.  There are options that can reduce the chances of  a rupture and  slow or stop the progression of the diseases he suffers from but he needs medical care quickly.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

All of us, especially our mom are desperately doing what we can to help our dad!  The cost for treatment and medication along with day to day living expenses has been a tremendous burden for our parents.

Doctors have told our parents that the stress associated with all of this will undoubtedly cause dad’s health conditions to deteriorate. All of the donations we are fortunate and blessed to receive will be used to get our dad the medical care and medication that he needs.

We are hoping to raise enough money until our dad is able to get social security disability benefits.  It is unknown exactly how much longer that process will take but at a minimum it will take 8-10 months.

No donation amount is too small and we ask that you consider helping us in our time of need.  If you are unable to help through donation, you can help by sharing the link for this campaign with contacts that you have through social media and/or email and help give our dad the best chance to survive the challenges he faces.

We would be happy to answer any questions that you may have so please feel free to contact us.

Thank you very much for your support!