Help Valentin Fight Cancer

On June 7th, 2019, my dad, Valentin Lopez, was diagnosed with advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma. This is a cancer of the mesothelium tissue surrounding the lung which is directly caused by asbestos inhalation. Since he came to this country from Mexico when he was 16, he has worked doing construction and plumbing jobs where he was exposed to this mineral. He went from being an active man with zero health issues to someone in so much pain that he can neither lay down or walk for longer than a couple of minutes, all within the span of one month. His chemotherapy treatment will begin on July 11th and after two rounds we will hopefully be able to operate and remove 80-90% of the tumor which surrounds his entire left lung. The doctor gave him a prognosis of about a year which is not something we will accept sitting down. My family and I are looking everywhere for a treatment plan that doesn’t just pump him full of pain killers and poison making his health even worse and without hope for a cure. This search has led us to find alternative treatments administered at hospitals such as CHIPSA outside of the US which have helped some people go from stage 4 to “no signs of cancer”. Hospitals such as this one focus on boosting his immune system and helping his quality of life. Knowing that there are mesothelioma survivors of 15+ years, we are determined to provide my dad with the best chance at beating this and joining that list.   As with most families,  we were not prepared nor did we think we'd ever face such a diagnosis.  If you can find it in your heart to donate even just the amount you would spend at Starbucks, that would get us that much closer to providing my dad with a treatment that we believe will give him a better, longer life and hopefully get rid of the cancer altogether.  From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.

-- La Familia Lopez