Help Sonia Lopez Fight Lung Cancer & Brain Tumour

Dear Friends,

In 2015, our mother was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer. With the help of family, loved ones, and government assistance, she was able to get past several rounds of chemotherapy and surgery. She is based in the Philippines.

A few months after going through painful procedures, we were told her cancer was finally in remission. This had been very happy news for all of us and all we could hope for her.

Late last year, however, we were told the devastating news that cancer has spread to her lungs, and that a tumor has been found there. We were also advised that it is extremely risky for her to undergo surgery, since the tumor is very close to her heart. We first tried oral chemotherapy, which had been painful for her to get through, and the effects of the medication made her feel extremely nauseous and dizzy. After being told that this type of treatment wasn't being effective at reducing the tumor, she needed to be switched to a more potent form of chemotherapy, which has not been easy on her either.

Recently, things took a turn for the worse. We were told that a tumor has formed in her brain, indicating that chemotherapy hasn't been very effective. Her physician has suggested we seek out other means, including radiation and immunotherapy (a form of treatment that uses the immune system to fight cancer) which will be far more costly. Radiation therapy would cost at least 1M Philippine Peso (USD 20,000), and immunotherapy, which is not commonly available in the Philippines, starts at around 100,000 Philippine Peso (USD 2,000) per prescriptive dosage, which will take every three weeks for at least 2 years.

For those of you who know her, our mom is a very extraordinary human being. She is cheerful and headstrong, and always puts her family before herself. Everyone knows how always eager she is in finding a way to people's hearts through her cooking and baking, and is as ready to help out people as she is a conjurer of all good things in her kitchen. During most her stays in the hospital, she tells us how she looks forward to baking again. And despite enduring chemotherapy and surgery over the years, she has remained resilient and full of faith, still with her easy laughter and thoughtful stories.

We hope you can help in nursing our mom back to health and improving her quality of life. The family's finances has taken a great considerable toll, as the struggle is made even worse by the ongoing covid pandemic. We'll need every bit of help that we can to offset the cost of her new treatments, medical expenses, travel to medical facilities, medicine, and her daily needs.
We sincerely hope you can help us raise funds for our mom's path to healing and quality of life, and we are extremely grateful for any help.

We are grateful for any donation towards our fundraising goal. Thank you kindly, from the bottom of our hearts.