Mario Vargas Family Recovery Fund
Donation protected
Everyone has someone like Mario and his family in their lives.
I've known Mario since he was ten years old, newly arrived from Chile to the United States. Best friends with my son, Mario spent lots of time in my home as part of our extended family. I've witnessed him graduate high school, work from age 16 in various restaurant jobs, meet his future wife Shannon, marry, become a stepfather to Shannon's two young children, and welcoming a son of their own. In the past few years, Mario and Shannon have been local fixtures in Fresno's coffee scene as owners of Valparaiso Cafe & Roastery, in which Mario realized his dream of bringing his beloved hometown of Valparaiso, Chile to Fresno, California, blending his Chilean heritage into his American dream.
Shortly after Mario and Shannon married in 2013, Mario began to experience severe stomach pains. He was in and out of the ER, in and out of hospitals, as doctors were baffled to the cause of his pains. Tests were done, with nothing coming up, no culprit to his discomfort. No diagnosis. After a few years of recurrent pain and in and out of doctors offices and ER visits, Mario was told "this is just something you will need to get used to."
Fast forward to October 2019. Days before his 38th birthday, unable to work, excruciating pain led Mario to the hospital ER once more. This time Mario received a diagnosis: severe diverticulitis with ruptured sigmoid colon; severe infections. Mario was admitted to the hospital, where he spent 7 days fighting a severe infection caused by his ruptured colon. His physicians stated surgery was needed, but in his condition surgery was too dangerous due to the fear of sepsis setting in. His infection was treated, his doctors set him home hoping Mario would remain infection free for 3-4 months to give the inflammation time to settle before performing surgery.
Mario has had two more hospitalizations since October, one in November and another in January. His doctors hopes were shattered as Mario barely made it one month before being hit with another infection that sent him to the ER, once again admitted to the hospital for another 5-7 days. With the worst pain Mario had experienced to date, his visit to the hospital revealed his colon had ruptured once again. A new surgeon checked Mario, and explained that Mario was in tremendous pain due to his body working overtime to try to fight the infection taking over. He preferred they do surgery as elective instead of emergency as the risks are so much lower. The surgeon also mentioned colon cancer, and that they tend t see it in patients like Mario when the infections flare up back to back to back. So while the surgeon would prefer to wait 3 months to perform surgery, he knew waiting would result in one thing: Mario back in the ER. Mario was released from the hospital early January with an early February surgery scheduled. So after more than five years and a incredibly difficult three months, Mario finally has a plan.
Mario's surgery trajectory looks like this: A colonoscopy will be performed before Mario's surgery to rule out colon cancer. Mario will have surgery performed to remove part of his colon, at which time they will discover the extent of the damage, and find out what they are looking at in terms of recovery. With all things going well, this includes 5-7 days in hospital, with full recovery a month or more.
The challenges continue for this young family. Mario and Shannon's 9 year old son is scheduled for surgery January 30th, causing him to miss two weeks of school. In addition, their teenage daughter, who has struggled daily with mental health issues over the past two years and after a multitude of outpatient and inpatient treatments, medications, counseling, has recently been re-admitted to a private residential home for intensive treatment. Their daughter's journey has been scary and painful, the cost is steep, but Mario and Shannon are determined to do whatever is necessary to keep their daughter safe and alive.
Mario and Shannon's coffee & roastery shop has been severely impacted with his illness, often having to close early when Mario was rushed to emergency. Shannon also works a full-time job outside of the coffee shop, and has become the main provider for the family. Shannon has exhausted her paid time off due to Mario's medical needs as well as their daughter's needs during her illness. Shannon is taking unpaid leave over the next few weeks so she can tend to both Mario and their son during their recovery period, as well as be there for their daughter when she is released home.
I've started this GoFundMe to help ease the burden off Mario, Shannon and their family as they navigate the next few weeks and months ahead. With both Mario and their son's upcoming surgeries, Shannon will need to be at numerous doctor appointments, hospital stays, and with them during recovery. As you can imagine the normal cost of everyday living -such as rent, food, utilities, gas, car - the medical costs they have accumulated and continue to accumulate are tremendous.
You can help the Mario Vargas Family Recovery Fund.
* Give whatever you can. No donation is too small, and it's tax deductible.
*Share on social media.
*Email this page to family and friends.
On behalf of Mario, Shannon, and their sweet family, thank you .
With gratitude,
Cindy
I've known Mario since he was ten years old, newly arrived from Chile to the United States. Best friends with my son, Mario spent lots of time in my home as part of our extended family. I've witnessed him graduate high school, work from age 16 in various restaurant jobs, meet his future wife Shannon, marry, become a stepfather to Shannon's two young children, and welcoming a son of their own. In the past few years, Mario and Shannon have been local fixtures in Fresno's coffee scene as owners of Valparaiso Cafe & Roastery, in which Mario realized his dream of bringing his beloved hometown of Valparaiso, Chile to Fresno, California, blending his Chilean heritage into his American dream.
Shortly after Mario and Shannon married in 2013, Mario began to experience severe stomach pains. He was in and out of the ER, in and out of hospitals, as doctors were baffled to the cause of his pains. Tests were done, with nothing coming up, no culprit to his discomfort. No diagnosis. After a few years of recurrent pain and in and out of doctors offices and ER visits, Mario was told "this is just something you will need to get used to."
Fast forward to October 2019. Days before his 38th birthday, unable to work, excruciating pain led Mario to the hospital ER once more. This time Mario received a diagnosis: severe diverticulitis with ruptured sigmoid colon; severe infections. Mario was admitted to the hospital, where he spent 7 days fighting a severe infection caused by his ruptured colon. His physicians stated surgery was needed, but in his condition surgery was too dangerous due to the fear of sepsis setting in. His infection was treated, his doctors set him home hoping Mario would remain infection free for 3-4 months to give the inflammation time to settle before performing surgery.
Mario has had two more hospitalizations since October, one in November and another in January. His doctors hopes were shattered as Mario barely made it one month before being hit with another infection that sent him to the ER, once again admitted to the hospital for another 5-7 days. With the worst pain Mario had experienced to date, his visit to the hospital revealed his colon had ruptured once again. A new surgeon checked Mario, and explained that Mario was in tremendous pain due to his body working overtime to try to fight the infection taking over. He preferred they do surgery as elective instead of emergency as the risks are so much lower. The surgeon also mentioned colon cancer, and that they tend t see it in patients like Mario when the infections flare up back to back to back. So while the surgeon would prefer to wait 3 months to perform surgery, he knew waiting would result in one thing: Mario back in the ER. Mario was released from the hospital early January with an early February surgery scheduled. So after more than five years and a incredibly difficult three months, Mario finally has a plan.
Mario's surgery trajectory looks like this: A colonoscopy will be performed before Mario's surgery to rule out colon cancer. Mario will have surgery performed to remove part of his colon, at which time they will discover the extent of the damage, and find out what they are looking at in terms of recovery. With all things going well, this includes 5-7 days in hospital, with full recovery a month or more.
The challenges continue for this young family. Mario and Shannon's 9 year old son is scheduled for surgery January 30th, causing him to miss two weeks of school. In addition, their teenage daughter, who has struggled daily with mental health issues over the past two years and after a multitude of outpatient and inpatient treatments, medications, counseling, has recently been re-admitted to a private residential home for intensive treatment. Their daughter's journey has been scary and painful, the cost is steep, but Mario and Shannon are determined to do whatever is necessary to keep their daughter safe and alive.
Mario and Shannon's coffee & roastery shop has been severely impacted with his illness, often having to close early when Mario was rushed to emergency. Shannon also works a full-time job outside of the coffee shop, and has become the main provider for the family. Shannon has exhausted her paid time off due to Mario's medical needs as well as their daughter's needs during her illness. Shannon is taking unpaid leave over the next few weeks so she can tend to both Mario and their son during their recovery period, as well as be there for their daughter when she is released home.
I've started this GoFundMe to help ease the burden off Mario, Shannon and their family as they navigate the next few weeks and months ahead. With both Mario and their son's upcoming surgeries, Shannon will need to be at numerous doctor appointments, hospital stays, and with them during recovery. As you can imagine the normal cost of everyday living -such as rent, food, utilities, gas, car - the medical costs they have accumulated and continue to accumulate are tremendous.
You can help the Mario Vargas Family Recovery Fund.
* Give whatever you can. No donation is too small, and it's tax deductible.
*Share on social media.
*Email this page to family and friends.
On behalf of Mario, Shannon, and their sweet family, thank you .
With gratitude,
Cindy
Organizer and beneficiary
Cindy Woy Bradley
Organizer
Fresno, CA
Shannon Vargas
Beneficiary