Help Gee-u Take Care of his Family
Donation protected
Two years ago, Gee-u Guillero was diagnosed with a rare leukemia called Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML). Living in the Philippines at the time, he kept the leukemia at bay with a targeted chemo medication. Last year, Gee-u, his wife Aileen Rose Llagas and 2-month-old twin girls Alecka and Alexis moved to Canada.
By the time he received a referral to a hematologist, blood tests showed that his disease was now in accelerated phase. The next hurdle was to restart medication, the monthly cost of which was more than 10 times what Gee-u earns as a cleaner. With the help of a dedicated drug access navigator, who arranged financial support, Gee-u got his medication in a matter of days. He was thrilled.
By December, it was clear that the medication was no longer working. He was switched to another, but by January his doctor was recommending a transplant.
On April 28, 2017, Gee-u underwent an allogenic transplant, and began the long road to recovery. His wife Aileen Rose has taken over Gee-u’s duties as a building cleaner so as to not jeopardize their income, or their home (since they get an apartment in exchange for Gee-u’s labour) while their girls attend daycare.
There are a ton of things that Gee-u should be worried about, but what’s keeping him up at night is how he will care for his family while, instead of being at work –which offers no health benefits - he spends four to six weeks in the hospital, and a year recovering.
Gee-u and Aileen Rose need help to cover costs like daycare, transportation expenses to and from the hospital, post-transplant medications, as well as other basic living expenses, so that maybe, despite the long road he is about to travel, Gee-u can find a little bit of peace knowing that his family is being looked after, and he can focus on his health.
Please help. Gee-u's story could easily be any of ours.
By the time he received a referral to a hematologist, blood tests showed that his disease was now in accelerated phase. The next hurdle was to restart medication, the monthly cost of which was more than 10 times what Gee-u earns as a cleaner. With the help of a dedicated drug access navigator, who arranged financial support, Gee-u got his medication in a matter of days. He was thrilled.
By December, it was clear that the medication was no longer working. He was switched to another, but by January his doctor was recommending a transplant.
On April 28, 2017, Gee-u underwent an allogenic transplant, and began the long road to recovery. His wife Aileen Rose has taken over Gee-u’s duties as a building cleaner so as to not jeopardize their income, or their home (since they get an apartment in exchange for Gee-u’s labour) while their girls attend daycare.
There are a ton of things that Gee-u should be worried about, but what’s keeping him up at night is how he will care for his family while, instead of being at work –which offers no health benefits - he spends four to six weeks in the hospital, and a year recovering.
Gee-u and Aileen Rose need help to cover costs like daycare, transportation expenses to and from the hospital, post-transplant medications, as well as other basic living expenses, so that maybe, despite the long road he is about to travel, Gee-u can find a little bit of peace knowing that his family is being looked after, and he can focus on his health.
Please help. Gee-u's story could easily be any of ours.
Organizer and beneficiary
The Network
Organizer
Toronto, ON
Gee-u Guillero
Beneficiary
