Help Angie W/ Med Exp due to Cancer
Donation protected
Hi. My name is Angie. I've revised my story for everyone to read since so much has happened.
On August 31, 2012 I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML. Since then I've had about 5 rounds of chemotherapy which lasted 6 days each and then a final round of chemo which consisted of 16 bags of chemo in 6 days to prepare my body for a bone marrow transplant which I had on January 23, 2013. My donor is unrelated and I was blessed to meet her this past June and attend her wedding just a few weeks ago. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Her name is Brittany and she's
amazing!! We instantly clicked like sisters the moment we met.
It's been extremely hard being a single mom trying to raise two boys and being Ill at the same time. Here's a little update on my medical situation: All the blood clots I had are now canalized and stable (I had close to 10 blood clots during my 2 1/2 year journey), I have steroid induced diabetes, extreme fatigue, preosteoperisis from the steroids (my bones are as brittle as a 65 year old woman), necrosis in my right hip and right knee due to the steroids as well and eventually will need to be replaced when I can no longer tolerate the pain. My knee right is extremely debilitating and painful and I now use a cane and knee brace for support as well as very strong pain killers. Doesn't help much with the pain so I just do the best I can. Since having surgery now would limit me from driving and leaving my home i'm trying very hard to wait till my boys are on summer break. This way I won't need to leave home and I'll have two amazing boys helping me but at the same time it means another summer stuck in my house with 2 bored boys. I feel so bad that I can't do normal mom things with my kids but they've been so good and helpful to me. I'm very proud of them. Continuing on I have stomach motility issues, chronic nausea, precancerous lesions that I've had lasered off three times now but Unfortunatly they keep coming back. Because of this I had to have a total hysterectomy this past October. I also have GVHD (graft vs host disease) in my stomach and on my skin, I'm currently undergoing Photopheresis treatments and have been since last June. This requires a catheter in my chest and many hours a week in treatment. My catheter has been removed and replaced twice due to possible infection. This is a very painful process and for me requires weeks of healing. I just had a new catheter placed on Friday so I've been battling those pain issues as well recently. I also suffer from depression, post tramatic stress disorder and memory and concentration loss. This is just naming some of my issues and updates. Because of all these problems that continue to arise even though I'm in remission from cancer (post transplant complications) I have lost my job and am unable to work at this time. I receive SSDI benefits and help from my mom and friends. I'm constantly behind on bills because I don't receive even minimum wage. I've even tried asking people if they need work done to make extra money....I can only do so much but I do try.
I've made it this far because of the generous help of my mom and friends.
It's a struggle every day and I want to give up every day and just go to a better place but then think of my two beautiful sons and I tell myself that I need to keep fighting. I want to see them both graduate high school, go off to collage, and have families of their own one day. I'm living for those moments.
I want to give a HUGE THANk YOU to those of you who have donated whether it was monentary, food, a ride to a doctors appointment, those of you who have bought me things I needed like glasses, all the prayers and positive vibes being sent my way. Everything and anything...they all mean so much to me and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
It's very hard for me to ask for help but I have to do this in order to survive and make a better life for my boys. I'm constantly looking for ways to make extra money or find grants from different cancer organizations , churches, community services, and food banks. The reason I'm saying all this and im going to be perfectly blunt, is because I don't want anyone thinking I sit on my butt all day doing nothing. On top of trying to stay sane and on top of my Photopheresis treatments, I usually have anywhere from 3-8 other doctor appointments. Staying alive is a full time job for me...without pay...but it's what I do to be here for my sons.
Please consider making a donation. Every prayer, positive vibe, and penny counts...
Thank you all again so very much!!
-Angie
On August 31, 2012 I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML. Since then I've had about 5 rounds of chemotherapy which lasted 6 days each and then a final round of chemo which consisted of 16 bags of chemo in 6 days to prepare my body for a bone marrow transplant which I had on January 23, 2013. My donor is unrelated and I was blessed to meet her this past June and attend her wedding just a few weeks ago. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Her name is Brittany and she's
amazing!! We instantly clicked like sisters the moment we met.
It's been extremely hard being a single mom trying to raise two boys and being Ill at the same time. Here's a little update on my medical situation: All the blood clots I had are now canalized and stable (I had close to 10 blood clots during my 2 1/2 year journey), I have steroid induced diabetes, extreme fatigue, preosteoperisis from the steroids (my bones are as brittle as a 65 year old woman), necrosis in my right hip and right knee due to the steroids as well and eventually will need to be replaced when I can no longer tolerate the pain. My knee right is extremely debilitating and painful and I now use a cane and knee brace for support as well as very strong pain killers. Doesn't help much with the pain so I just do the best I can. Since having surgery now would limit me from driving and leaving my home i'm trying very hard to wait till my boys are on summer break. This way I won't need to leave home and I'll have two amazing boys helping me but at the same time it means another summer stuck in my house with 2 bored boys. I feel so bad that I can't do normal mom things with my kids but they've been so good and helpful to me. I'm very proud of them. Continuing on I have stomach motility issues, chronic nausea, precancerous lesions that I've had lasered off three times now but Unfortunatly they keep coming back. Because of this I had to have a total hysterectomy this past October. I also have GVHD (graft vs host disease) in my stomach and on my skin, I'm currently undergoing Photopheresis treatments and have been since last June. This requires a catheter in my chest and many hours a week in treatment. My catheter has been removed and replaced twice due to possible infection. This is a very painful process and for me requires weeks of healing. I just had a new catheter placed on Friday so I've been battling those pain issues as well recently. I also suffer from depression, post tramatic stress disorder and memory and concentration loss. This is just naming some of my issues and updates. Because of all these problems that continue to arise even though I'm in remission from cancer (post transplant complications) I have lost my job and am unable to work at this time. I receive SSDI benefits and help from my mom and friends. I'm constantly behind on bills because I don't receive even minimum wage. I've even tried asking people if they need work done to make extra money....I can only do so much but I do try.
I've made it this far because of the generous help of my mom and friends.
It's a struggle every day and I want to give up every day and just go to a better place but then think of my two beautiful sons and I tell myself that I need to keep fighting. I want to see them both graduate high school, go off to collage, and have families of their own one day. I'm living for those moments.
I want to give a HUGE THANk YOU to those of you who have donated whether it was monentary, food, a ride to a doctors appointment, those of you who have bought me things I needed like glasses, all the prayers and positive vibes being sent my way. Everything and anything...they all mean so much to me and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart.
It's very hard for me to ask for help but I have to do this in order to survive and make a better life for my boys. I'm constantly looking for ways to make extra money or find grants from different cancer organizations , churches, community services, and food banks. The reason I'm saying all this and im going to be perfectly blunt, is because I don't want anyone thinking I sit on my butt all day doing nothing. On top of trying to stay sane and on top of my Photopheresis treatments, I usually have anywhere from 3-8 other doctor appointments. Staying alive is a full time job for me...without pay...but it's what I do to be here for my sons.
Please consider making a donation. Every prayer, positive vibe, and penny counts...
Thank you all again so very much!!
-Angie
Organizer
Angie Lopez
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
