Yolanda's Stem Cell Transplant and Recovery

Thank you for your interest in Yolanda (Yoli) Calderon's GoFundMe initiative. If you are able to assist Yolanda financially, great! If you are not, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, as all forms of assistance are powerful and will be most sincerely appreciated as she heads into the next chapter of her battle with cancer.

“I know you care about me because here you are, and that lifts my spirit ♡”

-Con Cariño, Yolanda (Yoli)

Yolanda has Multiple Myeloma, a disease in which cancerous plasma cells accumulate in the bone marrow and crowd out the healthy blood cells. She has undergone chemotherapy for several months and has had a very good response so far. She's now been given the green light to have an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant in Seattle. This is going to be a long and arduous procedure. Stem cells will be harvested from her bone marrow and stored. Then she will receive high levels of chemotherapy and radiation to kill all the cancer cells. This process will completely eliminate her immune system. After that the harvested stem cells will be reintroduced into her bone marrow. Then the long journey to a normal immune system will begin. This will include getting all of her childhood vaccines, taking good care of herself and waiting for her body to bounce back. Essentially, she will be starting from zero and rebuilding.

Yolanda will be required to stay in Seattle for three months to be close to the cancer center while she gets the treatment she needs. She has a small team of family members that are going to take turns as her caregivers while she’s there. With the exception of her caregiver, Yolanda will be in complete isolation. Keeping her free from germs and infection will be the number one priority after her procedure in Seattle.

Yolanda's transplant and recovery are going to have a huge financial impact. There are a number of expenses that won’t be covered by insurance. We’re learning as we go through this process that it isn’t as straightforward as we had expected. Some of the things that aren’t covered are lodging and living expenses, certain medications and supplements, as well as some medical appointments. This whole cancer journey has been a rollercoaster of emotions for our family to say the least. Yolanda’s in the title fight of her life and she’s giving it her all.

It’s not easy asking for help, but we thought we’d put this together for Yolanda to take some of the financial pressure off her while she goes through this procedure and into her recovery.

You can send your love and support to this delightful and deserving soul by donating to this GoFundMe in her name. Yolanda has been a wonderful friend to everyone she meets, always there with a genuine smile, a kind word, and often a helping hand. Now she needs your help.

We'll update this page with Yolanda's progress and keep everyone in the loop on her recovery. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to reach out to her son, Hunter.

¡Gracias!