Ever since I was younger I have known that giving back to those in need is something so important to be done. In high school, I made it a mission that every organization I was involved with did community service and I myself accumulated over 1000 hours. In college I worked at non profits and volunteered with different programs. In law school I did pro bono work and volunteer work. I have participated in numerous walks to raise money for causes dear to my friends hearts, I have gone to countless events and donated money at every turn.

Sometimes you don’t realize that the one in need may one day be you or your family. The past 12 days my dad has been at the hospital. What started out as a possible stomach ache turned into us finding out that he has esophageal cancer. Something we never thought was possible. He is in good health and  not a smoker or drinker. Since his first day being in the hospital he’s had 18 ounces of fluid drained out of his heart, almost 3 liters of fluid out of both lungs, he has blood clots in his right lung, he was battling mrsa, he hasn’t been able to eat in 3 weeks so he has another tube feeding nutrients into his stomach, he was struggling with oxygen so has a machine helping him breathe, and he got  fever and pneumonia all while learning he has cancer which is trying to fight his body and make him weak. Once he gets stronger, which we know he will, he will start treating the cancer with chemo. He has not been able to get  a PET scan done yet because they do not do it at the hospital and he has to be discharged to get it done. That just can't happen now because of the battles he is facing every day. It is scary to not know for certain if the cancer has spread or what stage it is at. It’s been nothing short of a whirlwind for our family. 

Situations like this are exhausting (mentally and physically) and difficult but it has brought so much togetherness. I TRULY want to thank every family member and friend that has come to the hospital and spent countless hours with him praying, talking and making him laugh. I also want to thank those have had continuously called and texted to check in every day and make sure we are all ok. Prayer has been a great way to keep positive and our spirits up. Everyone has asked if we needed anything and we are grateful beyond words. It’s hard to say what we need because in the moment you are just thinking that we need more time...

Over the past few days the “please let me help” messages have been overwhelming. My dad in all honesty had just applied for health insurance days before this all happened. Before the application went through he received his results and now his cancer is considered pre existing so it has become more difficult to get this done quickly. With all of the procedures he has endured the past 15 days, medications and soon to come cancer treatment I can only imagine the probably over 200,000 in bills he has accumulated. He hasn’t been able to work and bills are piling up and still need to be paid.

I feel humbled now to ask for help. Helping him to keep afloat through this hard time with any donation that you may want to make towards my dad will be the biggest help anyone could give. At this moment, besides time, that is really something he will need. My dad is a fighter and would never ask himself. A few of his friends encouraged me to do this for him because he is a such a good person. He helps those in need without question and would give his last 5 dollars to someone if they needed it more than he did. So here I am... please don’t feel pressured, but if you would like to contribute... my family and I would be forever grateful to you. I promise that I will make it a mission to continue to contribute to charity and volunteer as I have my whole life in honor of all of you and my dad. Let’s fight cancer! Thank you all.