Support Rosemarie's Brave Battle Against Cancer

This has been created for my Tia/Aunt Rosemarie Santiago. Her medical journey has been a very complicated and difficult one. Rose, Pete, Nicole and the boys have been steadfast in their support and love for each other throughout this journey. We are asking for support to help them through this incredibly difficult time.

For the last 4.5 years she has been bravely fighting cancer. Taking each step with a grace and strength that is truly unmatched. Unfortunately, her health has been deteriorating quite rapidly over the past year.

Due to the strong radiation treatment her gums are dying and her jaw bone is exposed causing around the clock 10/10 pain. The diseased bone has caused repeated infections. The only way to stop the reoccurring infection is surgery to remove the diseased part of her jaw. The loss of healthy tissue and bone has caused her to lose teeth and leaves her unable to have any dental work done because of the complexity of her health. On December 27th, she learned that major surgery will be the next course of action.

The main goal of this procedure is to improve Rose’s quality of life, reduce overall pain, and improve daily functioning. Rose will need complete jaw replacement, part of her tongue removed, and skin grafts. Bone from her Tibia will be used to reconstruct her jaw and skin grafts will be used to cover her jaw and possibly her neck. Since her case is so complex and the cancer has spread, the surgeon will not know what needs to be removed and replaced until she is in surgery.

Rose is expecting to have a 10 day stay in the hospital after the surgery then she will continue her recovery at home. The 10 day hospital stay will be long and daunting for Rose, but also for her husband and daughter who are her main supporters. Caring for someone that has been so sick for so long comes with so many expected and unexpected obstacles to face. For those of you that have sent well wishes and continue to reach out, Rose and her family are incredibly grateful. They would appreciate any funds you are able to donate to help get them through this difficult time.

This money will help pay for medical treatment, medical equipment, prescriptions, other medical necessities that won’t be covered by insurance, transportation, and meals for the family to allow them to be better able to care for Rose.