For those who don’t know me, my name is Nerio Amaya. I’m a 27 year old chef from Miami Florida who recently moved cross country to Washington state in search of building a new life. For my friends, family, and community I’m deeply saddened by having to disclose this information as I know it will be impactful to many of you.

For the past couple of months I have been dealing with incredible pain that has been manifesting in my abdomen which i chalked up to radiating pain from an old back injury.

After 2 months of this pain just becoming worse and worse, at times to the point where I would collapse to the ground in my room the second I was alone, unable to get up from the agony, and the final straw which was not being able to eat for 3 days as the pain had become too much I decided to go to the emergency room after being told I had to get checked by someone in my life.

At the emergency room it came to me as a huge surprise that a large mass was found in my colon which turned out to be colon cancer, I’m not sure for how long it was there or for how much time it had been growing, but it calcified a good portion of my colon and allowed not much to get through the affected a cancerous area.

I had surgery and was in the hospital for a while but was recently released. this process has been very scary and difficult, extremely painful and taxing on the body. But you know how I am, maybe my body feels weak but mentally I’m a champion and at no point have I lost any will or fallen into despair, I’ve handled it very gracefully and I’ve been all smiles through out the process. I had a great medical team and was prioritized heavily which I am ultimately grateful for.

Good news is the surgery was a success, the doctors were able to remove the cancer from my body, bad news is that the cancer did spread into my lymphatic system and I’ve been categorized as stage 3c/stage 4 cancer. I don’t know how long but I will have to go through chemotherapy and radiation therapy as it is the main way of tackling this cancer, no matter how hard I will fight through this as I have a long life to live and family and friends that need me around. My spirits are high.

Unfortunately I do not have a financial safety net and my family does not have the means to take care of me long term. I am seeking out help from my community which in hopes can keep me afloat during these changes in my life. I am seeking help to get me through these times and help push me through the financial insecurity I may face from the cancer itself and everything that comes along with it.