Support Bayardo's Fight Against Cancer

This is my dad, his name is Bayardo. If you know him, I do not have to go into great detail about the wonderful kind of man that he is. If you do not know him, let me introduce you to my favorite person in the world. Growing up for me was made a delight because he was there to care and love us as a father. He is the kindest, most loving, and funniest man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. There has never been a person I have met that has not had a smile on their face while being in his presence. He is the first to be on the dance floor, and you can hear him a mile away from his signature jingly keys. He creates an environment of happiness, and especially for the dogs who know they have him as his playtime buddy every day when he gets home from work.

He did all that he could to give us everything that we needed, and that came with struggle. He lost the company he built to the long lasting effects of the recession, but he never stopped fighting. He started working for a company founded by an old peer, which was eventually sold off, and he was left trying to continue to push it forward with his many years of expertise. The new owner did not find his willingness to help him navigate a new industry needed, and instead laid him off.

23 days ago he was admitted to the hospital for extreme back pain and fainting from low blood pressure. He was immediately transferred to a bigger hospital with a Cancer Institute. Since that first day, it has been more questions than answers, and stress, not only on his body, but the entire family. They have done many tests, and have been able to come up with nothing solid, other than they think it is cancer that has metastasized. His lungs, his spine, his skull, his prostate.

The Oncologists have told him that after three weeks of waiting and hoping to find relief, they are no longer the place where he needs to be. After receiving 5 sessions of radiation treatments -out of the 10 they initially said - he is still in extreme pain. He is not able to walk without a walker, and still yet only as far as the bathroom, maybe once a day. He can only lay on one side, or on his back, or he will spend multiple days in excruciating pain. The pain has gotten to the point where he is constantly medicated, putting him in a state of tiredness. With all of this, they are sending him home with no further plan of care, and no answers.

Unfortunately he is under-insured and after a 23 day hospital stay that has procured no results, we are awaiting an overwhelming bill - the first of many. He is not well and has been unable to work for over a month. speaking with a peer, he has said that my Dad was doubled over in pain while at work, but refused to go home early until it became unbearable. Trying to finish his monthly report while he was in the hospital because he was the only one able to do it, and contracting pneumonia in the mean time made it so he could not. He continues not being able to work, and we are not able to tell how long be will be in this position.

As a family we are giving him as much support as possible, my mom has not left his side and has been sleeping in the uncomfortable hospital chair every single night. Daily visits from his children and family members who have travelled to come see him have kept him going, but we are still just experiencing the beginning of a long fight. To say that he is the glue, is putting it lightly. He is extra strength, industrial, home-building concrete, strong enough to hold up through the harshest storm.

Being in the hospital with him for several days, it is easy to see the stress in his eyes, that he doesn’t want to worry us about. Every day is hard mentally, not being able to even go outside, and do basic things on his own. Going through cancer in and of itself is one of the hardest fights to go through, and to go through it with no idea of what the future holds, and constantly worrying about how they’ll able to keep their home is a stress that I worry is putting a further toll on his body.

At this time the most important thing we need is prayers, positive vibes, and happy thoughts. We have faith that he will make it through this, and having him in your thoughts means the most to us.

Financial help is not what he has instilled in himself, being the rock for his family, helping in any way he can. Being the youngest of 10, he has had to keep a lot of people together. But as a family, we have decided that the best thing for him is to not have this mental stressor, so that he can give all of his physical and mental effort into fighting this battle.

Currently, anything would help, and again, we would be thankful just for the prayer. I will continue to update his progress, our next step being to find a doctor that is able to help, as the current hospital has stated multiple times that they can no longer be of help.

Thank you all for everything, and we will be here to fight with all that we have.