Hello! This is Adriana Garcia and my family and I are humbly asking for your support in funding Gilbert’s Leukemia treatment. This past August just as our family tried to get into the swing of things with a new school year Gilbert got sick and was seen at a clinic for what seemed like a minor infection. However, his condition did not seem to improve and his symptoms only got worse. He decided to take a home Covid test which came out positive. He was prescribed more antibiotics, but he just wasn’t getting any better. As the weeks went on he kept going to the clinic and taking time off from work and was told it would just take some time to recover from Covid. Weeks later on September 13th he was still feeling under the weather and while having a coughing fit he passed out. I immediately panicked and decided to take him to the ER in hopes of getting the right medication and finally helping him get over what we all thought was still a bad case of Covid. For a moment, we all thought I was simply overreacting and we’d be sent on our merry way out, but we were so wrong. During all his visits to the clinic he never received any blood work, but once in the ER and after all the tests were run is when it was discovered that there was something very wrong with his white blood cell count. He was admitted to the hospital that same day while doctors consulted with specialists to try and diagnose his illness. By Friday September 15th we were told that we were dealing with some type of Leukemia and treatment needed to start immediately. He was transferred from Brownsville to Valley Baptist in Harlingen and once there we received his diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia and met with his oncologist to discuss his treatment plan. He started chemotherapy that Saturday September 16th and finished his first round of chemo on October 6th. He has been receiving chemotherapy every month which requires hospitalization for up to 3 weeks each time. Our lives have been turned upside down since September. We went from a 2 income household to 1 with added medical bills that just keep piling on. Not only will the medical bills continue to pile on, but I have exhausted all of my time off. This means that whenever I need to take time off my paycheck will be deducted. Needless to say this will only further strain our fragile finances. Unfortunately, you don’t cure these types of illnesses within a few months we still have a very long way to go and many more medical expenses that will pile up. His next step is a bone marrow transplant. This procedure would require us to stay in a specialized medical facility in San Antonio, Texas. All his follow up care could be anywhere between 30-60 days or perhaps even longer, which means we would have to remain or travel to San Antonio constantly for at least 2 months. Not only do we need to raise money to cover part of this procedure, but we need money for gas, food, traveling and lodging. Not to mention try and maintain all our usual monthly finances at home.

If you have ever interacted with my husband you know that he’s a great person all around. He’s always making others laugh and is the first one to lend out a helping hand to whoever needs it. He’s always had a passion for helping the community. If you ever took holiday or character pictures at the Brownsville Public Library chances are my hubby was in one of those costumes. He never complained about the long hours of these picture events because he genuinely enjoyed interacting with the community.I’m asking that you please find it in your hearts to donate any amount you can to help our family through this difficult time. If you are unable to donate at this time please share our campaign with friends and family. Thank you and God bless!