Saranya "Joy" Nguyen Cancer Fund

If you know “Joy,” you know that name to be synonymous with her personality. She is always positive and upbeat, and she consistently and effortlessly elevates the mood of all those around her. A little over a year ago Joy was the picture of health, regularly tackling the hiking trails in and around the SF Valley. She was looking forward with great anticipation to welcoming her first grandchild into the world. A short time later, she quickly began experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath, and various other unexplained symptoms. Doctors conducted several tests but could not find a cause. When the problem briefly subsided, she optimistically wrote it off as a fluke. Unfortunately, the symptoms began to return months later. Shortly after the holidays, an urgent care visit for pneumonia-like symptoms, which included a CT scan, revealed an 11 cm (4.3 in.) mass that was pressing against her heart and lungs. She was immediately admitted into the hospital, and a biopsy confirmed it was a cancerous growth known as Malignant Thymoma. She began chemotherapy the next day, and was immediately placed off work. Because of the size and location of the tumor, doctors advised they could not operate to remove it unless they could shrink it significantly first. Joy is facing months of treatment including chemo and radiation before surgical removal can be considered.

Joy has been off work since early January, and she is quickly running out of sick time. She is the sole source of income in her household, and although she leads a simple lifestyle, her single income has not allowed her to build up a “rainy day fund” to get her through this unforeseen and lengthy medical treatment. Without financial help, she is facing the prognosis of trying to go back to work between chemo and radiation treatments in hopes of stretching her sick time as long as possible. We are hoping her friends, her loved ones, and her LAPD family will contribute what they can, large or small, to this worthy cause, and allow her to concentrate on healing. Whether or not you can donate funds, would you please help by sharing this link? Thank you for your love, your generosity, and your prayers!