Kano's Memorial Fund- by his mom
Donation protected
On October 8th, 2016, the lives of our family forever changed.
Our wonderful oldest son, Kano Laguatan, was a healthy 19 year old man- just enrolled in EMT classes, and dating an amazing young woman. Young and in love, his life was an amazing adventure with his whole life ahead of him.
That afternoon, Kano had a seizure while in his EMTclass while learning about seizures.
After everyone rushed to the local hospital, we were told that they didn’t know what the cause was. He was sent home after 12 hours, and had to go back to the emergency room to be admitted for 3 more weeks. He was discharged, but I took Kano right back to our Loma Linda Medical Center ER, supposedly the best in our area and known worldwide. After an additional stay of 9 weeks, and 24 MRI's later, several requests for 2nd opinions and doctors to outreach that went unanswered- the teams of doctors came to us and said that there isn’t anything else that they can do for Kano. I immediately began reaching out to Jaden’s surgeon in San Diego for help to get out of Loma Linda as Kano was declining too fast for his “meningitis” diagnosis.
Kano was able to be transferred to UCSD 4 days before Christmas... On December 28th, 2016, my firstborn son, a piece of my heart, underwent a brain biopsy, and to our horror it was discovered that he has Gilomatosis Cerebri.
Gliomatosis Cerebri is a rare brain cancer that is highly aggressive and very resistant to treatment. These malignancies are not lumps like other tumors, but cancerous threads that spread very quickly and infiltrate deep into the surrounding brain tissue, or into multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, making them very difficult to remove with surgery or treat with radiation. Gliomatosis Cerebri is extremely rare, with fewer than 100 cases diagnosed in the United States each year.
Kano is a brave fighter, and is fighting this all the way- we now have him in a Long Term Acute Care hospital near home while we are searching for clinical trials, drug trials and drug studies. I am networking with doctors, surgeons, Oncologists and drug companies as we speak. Many of these trials to slow down the progression of his brain tumor and Kano’s eventual hospice care facility are not covered by our insurance.
We are staying with Kano 24 hours a day to ensure that he is never alone and have been since the beginning. Our goal with this fundraising effort is to help cover the expenses incurred so far, (ambulance transports for test and transfers, family expenses while out of town/away from home, co-insurance & out of pocket costs 2016/2017, new clinical/drug trial costs, eventual hospice facility stay) and everything in between.
Steve and I and our family want to thank all of our friends, family and co-workers for asking what can be done to help and offering continual support over the last several months (and for the future) while we make sure Kano is loved, supported, and cared for in the best possible way. Thank you so much and please keep Kano in your thoughts and prayers!
Our wonderful oldest son, Kano Laguatan, was a healthy 19 year old man- just enrolled in EMT classes, and dating an amazing young woman. Young and in love, his life was an amazing adventure with his whole life ahead of him.
That afternoon, Kano had a seizure while in his EMTclass while learning about seizures.
After everyone rushed to the local hospital, we were told that they didn’t know what the cause was. He was sent home after 12 hours, and had to go back to the emergency room to be admitted for 3 more weeks. He was discharged, but I took Kano right back to our Loma Linda Medical Center ER, supposedly the best in our area and known worldwide. After an additional stay of 9 weeks, and 24 MRI's later, several requests for 2nd opinions and doctors to outreach that went unanswered- the teams of doctors came to us and said that there isn’t anything else that they can do for Kano. I immediately began reaching out to Jaden’s surgeon in San Diego for help to get out of Loma Linda as Kano was declining too fast for his “meningitis” diagnosis.
Kano was able to be transferred to UCSD 4 days before Christmas... On December 28th, 2016, my firstborn son, a piece of my heart, underwent a brain biopsy, and to our horror it was discovered that he has Gilomatosis Cerebri.
Gliomatosis Cerebri is a rare brain cancer that is highly aggressive and very resistant to treatment. These malignancies are not lumps like other tumors, but cancerous threads that spread very quickly and infiltrate deep into the surrounding brain tissue, or into multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, making them very difficult to remove with surgery or treat with radiation. Gliomatosis Cerebri is extremely rare, with fewer than 100 cases diagnosed in the United States each year.
Kano is a brave fighter, and is fighting this all the way- we now have him in a Long Term Acute Care hospital near home while we are searching for clinical trials, drug trials and drug studies. I am networking with doctors, surgeons, Oncologists and drug companies as we speak. Many of these trials to slow down the progression of his brain tumor and Kano’s eventual hospice care facility are not covered by our insurance.
We are staying with Kano 24 hours a day to ensure that he is never alone and have been since the beginning. Our goal with this fundraising effort is to help cover the expenses incurred so far, (ambulance transports for test and transfers, family expenses while out of town/away from home, co-insurance & out of pocket costs 2016/2017, new clinical/drug trial costs, eventual hospice facility stay) and everything in between.
Steve and I and our family want to thank all of our friends, family and co-workers for asking what can be done to help and offering continual support over the last several months (and for the future) while we make sure Kano is loved, supported, and cared for in the best possible way. Thank you so much and please keep Kano in your thoughts and prayers!
Organizer
Caryn Curren
Organizer
San Bernardino, CA
Inspired to help? Start a fundraiser for someone you know
