Jesús' Transplant Fund
Donation protected
My name is Alejandra and I am happily married with the love of my life Jesús Bendeck. He is 38 years old and has been diagnosed with stage IV cancer, but can be treated and saved. We live in Honduras and have two lovely girls, Sarah (9 years old) and Natalia (6 years old), who are the pillars and main focus of our lives. Through life’s unpredictability, we find ourselves seeking the generous help of friends, family, and the broader world community to help save the life of my husband.
Three years ago, Jesús was wrongfully diagnosed with a skin condition that doctors thought was acute psoriasis. His skin showed numerous red spots that would dry up and cause severe itchiness. In many occasions, they would thin out to a point where they would crease and bleed.
With no improvement and no end in sight, we hopped from doctor to doctor, clinic to clinic, treatment to treatment. General internal medicine doctors and several specialists in dermatology tried regular and experimental treatments on him. The overall trial and error diagnosis took a toll on his body. Jesús’s overall health deteriorated even more.
The final doctor we saw in the fall of 2015 decided to suspend all treatments he was on for psoriasis. The goal here was to hit the reset button, give his body a break, and to run some skin biopsies. At that point, the real disease’s symptoms manifested themselves, i.e., more ruptured skin, tumor formation, and skin infection proliferation. All along, they had been treating the wrong illness. He had been suffering from skin cancer (Mycosis Fungoid cancer, lymphoma, stage IV, tumoral phase).
With the revelation of skin cancer in our midst, no medical insurance, and mounting medical bills, pressure was put on the family economically and emotionally. A decision had to be made to seek treatment in the United States as his condition could not be treated in Honduras.
In an act of desperation, we took flight to Houston December 28, 2015, leaving loved ones with our daughters. We ended up in the footsteps of the miracle workers at M.D. Anderson. For twenty-eight days, he underwent full body radiation treatments, thirty entire body skin scraping and cleansing procedures to fight, contain, and heal the severe skin infections that had developed.
For the last couple of weeks, he has been recovering nicely. However, to fully heal from this type of cancer, the only medical procedure that can save his life is a bone marrow transplant. Of course, this type of procedure requires it to be done in the United States and costs about half a million dollars ($500,000.00). Again, with no medical insurance and hoping for no further health complications, the challenge immediately ahead of us is to raise these funds so he can undergo surgery and overcome his sickness.
As I write this and share this chapter in our lives, we ask for your help to save my husband. Jesús is a wonderful husband and an even more wonderful dad. We want to close this chapter in our lives and continue life’s humble journey to see our girls grow up. We have strong faith that God is with us and will see us through this situation. Your prayers and donations, big or small, will fill our blessings to help save Jesús.
We thank you for your generosity, and may God bless you and your loved ones.
Alejandra Castellanos
Three years ago, Jesús was wrongfully diagnosed with a skin condition that doctors thought was acute psoriasis. His skin showed numerous red spots that would dry up and cause severe itchiness. In many occasions, they would thin out to a point where they would crease and bleed.
With no improvement and no end in sight, we hopped from doctor to doctor, clinic to clinic, treatment to treatment. General internal medicine doctors and several specialists in dermatology tried regular and experimental treatments on him. The overall trial and error diagnosis took a toll on his body. Jesús’s overall health deteriorated even more.
The final doctor we saw in the fall of 2015 decided to suspend all treatments he was on for psoriasis. The goal here was to hit the reset button, give his body a break, and to run some skin biopsies. At that point, the real disease’s symptoms manifested themselves, i.e., more ruptured skin, tumor formation, and skin infection proliferation. All along, they had been treating the wrong illness. He had been suffering from skin cancer (Mycosis Fungoid cancer, lymphoma, stage IV, tumoral phase).
With the revelation of skin cancer in our midst, no medical insurance, and mounting medical bills, pressure was put on the family economically and emotionally. A decision had to be made to seek treatment in the United States as his condition could not be treated in Honduras.
In an act of desperation, we took flight to Houston December 28, 2015, leaving loved ones with our daughters. We ended up in the footsteps of the miracle workers at M.D. Anderson. For twenty-eight days, he underwent full body radiation treatments, thirty entire body skin scraping and cleansing procedures to fight, contain, and heal the severe skin infections that had developed.
For the last couple of weeks, he has been recovering nicely. However, to fully heal from this type of cancer, the only medical procedure that can save his life is a bone marrow transplant. Of course, this type of procedure requires it to be done in the United States and costs about half a million dollars ($500,000.00). Again, with no medical insurance and hoping for no further health complications, the challenge immediately ahead of us is to raise these funds so he can undergo surgery and overcome his sickness.
As I write this and share this chapter in our lives, we ask for your help to save my husband. Jesús is a wonderful husband and an even more wonderful dad. We want to close this chapter in our lives and continue life’s humble journey to see our girls grow up. We have strong faith that God is with us and will see us through this situation. Your prayers and donations, big or small, will fill our blessings to help save Jesús.
We thank you for your generosity, and may God bless you and your loved ones.
Alejandra Castellanos
Organizer
Alejandra Castellanos Veloz
Organizer
Houston, TX
