Support Evangeline's Life-Saving Cancer Immunotherapy

Update: almost 2 months after surgery and a few post-surgical complications, Mama is finally cleared for treatment. She started her first FolFox and Monoclonal Antibody Therapy infusions yesterday, 10/04/2024.

Thank you all for journeying with us, for you love, prayers, and support. May God's blessings a nd protection be upon us all.

I am Tuesday Fragata Carino-Templon, a Veterinarian practicing here in Florida. Instead of talking about myself, please allow me to tell you about our Mother - Evangeline Flores Fragata Carino (wearing pink in picture). Our mother was born in 1950 and raised in a small town in the northeastern part of Pangasinan, Philippines, at the foot of Caraballo mountains, to a modest, but hard-working parents. The fifth among 12 children, she endeavored, with grit, hard work, and perseverance to attain advanced education not only for her own benefit and advancement, but as we have observed since we were young children, to serve her town-mates and a whole lot of students and other people from all walks of life.

Mama studied BS Chemistry with a minor in Physics, but only worked as a pharmaceutical chemist for a few years because her heart was in teaching. She dedicated her life teaching in the public school in the province instead of at a private school or university in the city where she could've been paid a whole lot more - because she said who would invest in the brilliant minds of the children in the provinces if all the teachers leave? I remember her having to tutor students from high school to college, until midnight from Sunday evening to Friday evening, just to make ends meet, especially when my sisters & I were still young. As a high school chemistry teacher, Mama imparted to her students her love for innovation and research as she mentored them in conducting award-winning investigatory projects. Even while teaching full time, Mama was able to obtain a master’s degree in teaching and then a diploma in environmental management, which are important tools for the 2 advocacies closest to her heart – elevating the quality of public education, and environmental protection awareness. Her training in environmental Management enabled Mama to help as a consultant (on loan from the Department of Education) for the Local Government Unit of San Nicolas in 1997-2002 during the preparations for the construction of the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam. After Mama retired from teaching, she continued to tutor students, mentor younger teachers, and continued to support her advocacies in her hometown. When the covid pandemic broke-out in early 2020, Mama formulated a nasal spray that helped alleviate the symptoms of covid among family and friends in the Philippines.

Although none of these endeavors enriched our mother financially, she is satisfied to know that she has contributed in educating numerous professionals, in the environmental protection of her hometown, and helped in her own small way, stem the devastating tide of covid during the pandemic.

In June of 2023, I and a few of my fellow Filipino Veterinarians (1 of them is my sister practicing in Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines) decided to conduct a veterinary spay and neuter missions to 2 villages in the Philippines. Mama organized 1 in her hometown San Nicolas, Pangasinan. We did another Veterinary mission this year and Mama helped organize 2 - one in San Nicolas Pangasinan and another in Pozorrubio, Pangasinan. She traveled through all the 4 mission venues with us from June 28th-July 5th, 2024 from Manila to San Nicolas, Pangasinan, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan, then Bangued, Abra, and finally, Vigan, Ilocos Sur. This she did, all the while being in pain - without telling any of us. Shortly after the conclusion of our veterinary missions in the Philippines - 2 days to be exact, our small family learnt of the devastating news that our dear mother could be suffering from Colon Cancer, this was confirmed by Colonoscopy and biopsy a week later - Colorectal Adeno-Carcinoma with Hepatic Metastasis.

Considering Mama's age and how advanced the cancer already is, conventional cancer treatment alone is not a good option for her anymore, so we had to search for other treatment options and the goodness and wisdom of God has led us to NEO CLINIC in Tokyo, Japan. They offer personalized, combined immunotherapy for patients with advanced cancer. This requires surgery (Got discharged with a hospital bill of PhP1,557,573.54), she will need to start with targeted Neoadjuvant Therapy in 2-3 weeks (FolFox costs PhP80,000/week × 12 weeks), Monoclonal Antibody therapy (PhP400,000), and the creation of personalized neopeptide anticancer vaccine.

Mama had surgery to remove the colonic mass and resect 10cm of small intestine that was also involved on 08/11/2024. She will need to start FolFox (NeoAdjuvant Targeted Chemotherapy in 2-3 weeks, followed by the administration of Monoclonal Antibody therapy in 8 weeks, while NEO Clinic will create the NeoPeptide Anticancer Vaccine (ideally need to be given same time as the Monoclonal Antibody Therapy) in Japan. Neo Clinic has informed us that the cost of creating the vaccine alone is at least $51,000. this does not include 1 of my sisters having to personally bring the tumor (and blood and other tissues) after surgery to Neo Clinic in Tokyo, and bringing our Mama to Tokyo to have the vaccine administered to her within 24 hours after production, because the Drs in the Philippines refused to administer it to her.

Being a retired public school teacher in the Philippines, Mama only has PhilHealth (the counterpart of MediCare) as an insurance provider, and this does not cover a lot of the treatment cost, medical services that she will be needing in the Philippines, and definitely not the $51,000 that will be needed for the NeoPeptide vaccine for her cancer treatment.

We are a small family with no ancestral properties that we could possibly sell or mortgage. But even though my sisters and I are all that she has, and although it is daunting for just us, we are not giving up and we are hoping and praying that as much as our mother helped so many people, God will move your hearts to help us get the treatment for our dear mother now that she is the one in need. We also ask for your prayers for wisdom & guidance for her medical team, for strength for her body especially her immune system, and for peace for our Mama and for our whole family. Thank you so much and may God in Christ bless us all.