Support Enrique's Battle Against Stage IV Cancer

For anyone that might not already know me: Hi, I'm Enrique! Aspiring educator, video game enthusiast, and cycling amateur!

Sadly and unfortunately, during the final weeks of October (my favorite time of year) I was diagnosed with Stage IV Cancer. I found myself in the hospital thanks to an ugly stomach bug; which in retrospect seems now like a blessing in disguise. The stomach bug caused me awful abdominal pain, which prompted the doctors to run scans of my upper body. When the results came back, I was informed that they had found a tumor in my liver with metastases present in my lungs. Of course, with a diagnosis of such late stage cancer I was fast tracked onto a recovery journey.

Just a few weeks later now, I find myself attending more doctors visits than I can count and starting chemotherapy in just a couple of days. While I am grateful for the quickness in which I will start this recovery journey, it comes with a price tag. A late stage diagnosis is accompanied by aggressive treatment. I will be receiving chemotherapy on a weekly basis, each visit costing between $150-$200. Additionally, chemotherapy will weaken both me and my immune system, preventing me from continuing to work at my high school consistently. Lessened income plus additional costs on top of the usual rent and bills is a recipe for struggle.

I am asking for your help with anything you can spare in order to help me and my family make ends meet throughout this journey. The $12,000 goal is our baseline, as it will cover the costs of chemotherapy and some other miscellaneous medical costs like prescriptions and routine visits. However, these medical costs throw a wrench into our routine expenses as well. Not making rent, losing internet access, and car maintenance for reliable transportation are some of the financial concerns at the forefront of my mind. With that said, meeting the $12,000 goal would be a blessing, but we need all the financial assistance we can get in order to move forward without struggle. Please, help us meet our goal so that I may be able to thank each and everyone personally once I am cleared and well!

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If you'd like to know more about me in depth, you may continue reading below!

Hi! As I said above, my name is Enrique Ramirez!

First and foremost, I am an aspiring educator. I was lucky enough to discover my love for teaching soon after I graduated high school. I joined the AVID program (a higher education readiness course) at my local high school as an academic tutor. I help the students enrolled in AVID further their understanding of the subjects they study and push them to better themselves in order to reach their maximum potential.

Initially, I planned to attend university to study Software Engineering. However, financial circumstances only allowed me to complete one semester of school right out of high school. Exactly a decade later, a new financial opportunity presented itself to me and in 2022 I was able to start my schooling once more. This time I am studying to become a teacher, and I am halfway through my degree plan at present.

I look forward to one day becoming a math teacher; showing students that while sometimes difficult, math can also be fun, useful, and practical! I believe in an emotional approach to teaching, holding rapport high on a pedestal as the key to reaching students in order for them to truly learn. I very much look forward to one day implementing strategies within my own classroom, helping students achieve their dreams and goals. I cannot overstate it enough: I love being an educator, it's the best job in the world!

Then there's video games. My all time favorite hobby and time sink. I was introduced to gaming by my aunt at the ripe age of 13 months! She let me play through the original Super Mario Bros., and by the age of 4 I had successfully beat the game on my own!

Nowadays I find myself mostly playing single-player, story-driven games. I love the worlds that developers are able to build and the stories their imaginations are able to weave.

Gaming has been an enormous part of my upbringing and continues to be heavily influential in my life. Gaming led me to meet some of my bestest friends in the world. It brought me closer to family members who I might have otherwise not been so close to. It has taught me valuable lessons and given me wisdom that I may or may not have acquired without playing video games.

My all-time favorite games: Bloodborne and Dark Souls, impacted me in more personal ways than I can describe. They built part of my character, altered my life philosophy, and taught me how to confront adversity while staying calm, collected, positive, and focused. Now, more than ever, I will use these lessons in order to come out on top!

I gotta tie together video games to cycling now so bear with me. These past few years I saw myself acquiring a taste for working out. I explored and realized that I loved cardio workouts!

Thanks to a very close friend of mine who gifted me a bike, I was able to get into the cycling sport! At my peak, I was cycling 15 miles at a 20mph pace every other day. I loved those rides; the speed, the wind, the freedom, the adrenaline. It was so much fun and I miss it dearly!

Now, let's link it back to video games. I also played Dance Dance Revolution as a cardio workout. DDR became a huge motivator for me to lose weight and better my stamina in order to improve. At my peak I was playing some of the hardest songs the game has to offer (albeit not well), but I was able to keep up with the pros! To this day you can find some of my proudest DDR moments on my Instagram profile.

I very, very much look forward to being able to get back into working out like this once I feel better. Just another motivator to keep me moving!

And last but most certainly not least, I want to mention and give a shout-out to my partner. Dani was a ray of sunshine in my life from the day I met her and has been my rock and stability throughout this tough journey.

The future I envision has her in it and I look forward to the best outcome out of this awful situation. I look forward to building a life, a family, and a future together with her.

If you stayed this long with me I really appreciate it, and now you know better than anyone why it is that I am asking for help. Getting out of this situation will be a tall order, but I am ready to face it head on!

Your help will directly impact my ability to help reach these goals: becoming a teacher, continuing to do what I love, building a future with my partner. There are no words for me to express the gratitude I have towards anyone that contributes. I love all of you that send over support and thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Many blessings and Godspeed!