Hope for Francisco

Our loving, strong, and hardworking Papa, Francisco, was recently diagnosed with aggressive terminal Stage IV Stomach Cancer in early October 2016. Needless to say, we were all devastated with this news that made us feel robbed of a future with our caring father and our children's future with their doting grandpa.


If you've never had the pleasure of meeting our dad, anyone who has could tell you that his smile lights up the room, his melodic voice and ukulele playing will melt your heart, his jokes make you laugh, and his calm and easy going demeanor will make you feel at ease.


Left feeling numb after the grim prognosis of weeks or months to live, we took action and dove into the frightening and unknown journey of treating our Papa's cancer. From one appointment to another, we were given little to no hope for our father to go into remission.  All the initial doctors we saw gave us only ONE option for treatment which is a surprisingly standard form of care in current convention:  chemo and radiation.


The prognosis he was given if he were to undergo chemo/radiation were:   At worst, it would kill him sooner than the cancer; at best 1-2 years in which he would be so affected as to not enjoy these remaining years with any quality of life. Those feelings of despair and devastation come from knowing this commonly accepted treatment: A dire outcome, exacerbated with a dire treatment, with (at best) dire “success” rates (less than 3%).


After several conventional doctors and specialists seen, hours of research, reading, and constant prayer, our Papa has peacefully and faithfully decided to take a more natural approach in fighting for his life. Make no mistake; this is not an act of giving up and submitting to the cancer. Rather, our dad has submitted to his Faith in God that HE has led him down this path. We believe in the miracles of God and the powers of Mother Nature.


Together, we put our trust in God to heal his body through experienced and knowledgeable doctors that forego chemo and radiation for methods that activate his immune system as his major defense and source of self-healing. For Papa, and us, the fight has begun.


On October 28, 2016, Papa officially began his long journey fighting cancer as we made the long drive down to Tucson, Arizona from Whidbey Island, Washington to seek alternative treatment as well as find comfort and refuge in the new environment. The warmth of the sun has so far been therapeutic.


Our dad's insurance does not cover his treatments which will last between 3-8 months or longer in which the cost is upwards of $2000-$2500 a week.  As this is stomach cancer that our dad is dealing with, he has difficulty keeping any food down. This amount does not include other medications and nutritional support.  


Thankfully, the treatments have helped slow the progression of his cancer and its symptoms. They have also given him more energy and vitality than he otherwise would have, however, he is still suffering from the advanced symptoms of his cancer. Watching him suffer in pain is absolutely difficult to see as he has not been able to keep much food down for several weeks due to severe nausea and gas pains. He has gone from 150lb to 120lb in a matter of three weeks.


It is also becoming increasingly troublesome to see our parents have to worry and stress about their finances when he should be focusing all his efforts in fighting for his life. At the age of 72, our dad continued to work as they could not afford to retire and now they are quickly depleting the small retirement they worked incredibly hard to save.  


Our family is doing the best we can to help them, unfortunately it is not enough.  On reflection of the sacrifices our parents have made and continue to make for us, we feel helpless as we are not able to cover all of our dad's medical expenses.  In an effort to ease their financial burden, with humility, we humbly and graciously reach out to you for help. 


With your combined help in generous donations, sending our father prayers, love, healing energy and light, and sharing our campaign, our dad can focus on fighting for his life with the comfort in knowing that his treatments won't end when their retirement savings has been depleted. We know without a doubt, any amount donated will help alleviate the massive stress and financial burden our dad and our family feel. No amount is too little.


"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much"

Thank you for taking the time to read our story and joining our effort to overcome this difficulty while keeping our loving dad smiling through his pain and suffering.

#hopeforfrancisco #gobeyondgiving