No One Fights Alone #JLstrong
Donation protected
Hi everyone! My name is Alleah Laxamana and I'm a senior softball player at the Univeristy of California, Berkeley.
On January 2nd, 2017 (my parents 25th anniversary) my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 Follicular Lymphoma. What's that? Well, I didn't know either until I did a little more research myself. In short, it is a type of blood cancer and there is currently no cure. But it is thankfully one of the slowest growing cancers there is.
For those of you who know my father - James Laxamana, you know that he is LOUD and has quite the personality. But don't worry he is still the LOUD and crazy Jimbo that everyone knows and loves. To be honest, this life changing experience has changed him for the better. He has a newfound relationship with God (he was not religious at all before this) and has completely changed his lifestyle/eating habits. He's happier and honestly living his life better than he ever has before.
After finding out about cancer, you think of the worse possible things. But after some time, and realizing that we all have to go some time/some type of way, my dad has found peace in knowing that everything is going to be okay. That the man above is in control at the end of the day. That this is life and all you can do is roll with the punches and say, "Okay. What's the next step?" Well, since there is currently no cure... I am taking the next step in creating this GoFundMe to help not only my father but those before, now, and after my father who may have the same cancer.
The reason why I created this account was because: 1) my father (aka my "papa") has cancer 2) the last conversation I had with my papa before I created this account stuck with me. Why? Well the night I created this account, my papa told me that everything was going to be okay because he's lived a full life and has done all of the things that he's wanted to do. Now what I'm about to tell you next is what motivated me to help make a difference... he told me that if my brothers and I had a disease that had no cure, he wouldn't know what he or my mother would do. Of course my parents would do everything they could for my brothers and I but he said, "To see your child go through pain his a very hard thing to experience as a parent. To see your child go through a pain that no one will understand, that no one has an cure or an answer for, is a harder pill to swallow. You're not supposed to go before me, I am." So laid in bed late that night thinking of ways I can help.
Now here we are on GoFundMe. I figured that I take advantage of being a Division 1 athlete in a very competitive conference where games are televised on some of the biggest platforms in sports like ESPN and PAC-12 Network to help kickstart this campaign and the dialogue about Follicular Lymphoma. My hope is that you all are touched by my papa's story and inspired to make a change by helping families going through this life changing experience find a cure some day by first talking about it and then donating to either this account or directly to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
So I'm asking you - whether you be an athlete at ANY level, a nurse, a teacher, a coach, a cook, a bus driver, etc. WHATEVER IT IS - wear some type of LIME-GREEN for at least 1 DAY to help spread awareness. I would love if ya'll would take a picture and post it on your social media with the hashtags #NoOneFightsAlone #JLstrong and tag me in it via Instagram @alleah_laxamana, Facebook, or Twitter @CAL_leah99. It would really mean a lot and I'll be sure to repost it on my personal social media! So far, my team and I have been wearing lime-green bows during our games to spread awareness and my boyfriend Frankie Rios and his teammates on the USC baseball team and coaches have shown their support by wearing lime-green stickers on thier hats/helmets/cleats and tape during their games (which I am forever grateful for). My papa's story has been featured on PAC-12 Network so the word is getting out about Follicular Lymphoma.
This is something bigger than me and I firmly believe that awareness should be a year-round thing. Or until there is a cure. This is not just for my papa; it was inspired by him but it is for every single person going through this life changing experience. More importantly, this is for those to know that they are not alone.
I orginally set my goal at $2,000 to raise by the end of my senior season since it was my first time using GoFundMe. My season ended late May and I thought about taking this account down since I surpassed my second goal to raise $5,000 halfway through. But like I said, I believe that awareness should be a year-round deal or until there is a cure.
The current goal to raise is $10,000 and I have yet to reach it since my season ended. So, I've concluded that I will continue to help families find a cure some day for thier loved ones by keeping this GoFundMe until I raise $10,000. Then, I will withdrawal the donations from this account and directly donate it to the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Until then, please share this page with you friends and family! I'd love to see ya'll help spread the word about Follicular Lymphoma and sport your lime-green!
Lastly, THANK YOU for taking the time to read this page. I hope that this campaign like all the others, goes a long way. But that's all you need to get things started... a little HOPE and a lot of LOVE.
Below is the link to the Lymphoma Research Foundation if you would like to learn more about it:
http://www.lymphoma.org/site/pp.asp?c=bkLTKaOQLmK8E&b=6296735
On January 2nd, 2017 (my parents 25th anniversary) my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 Follicular Lymphoma. What's that? Well, I didn't know either until I did a little more research myself. In short, it is a type of blood cancer and there is currently no cure. But it is thankfully one of the slowest growing cancers there is.
For those of you who know my father - James Laxamana, you know that he is LOUD and has quite the personality. But don't worry he is still the LOUD and crazy Jimbo that everyone knows and loves. To be honest, this life changing experience has changed him for the better. He has a newfound relationship with God (he was not religious at all before this) and has completely changed his lifestyle/eating habits. He's happier and honestly living his life better than he ever has before.
After finding out about cancer, you think of the worse possible things. But after some time, and realizing that we all have to go some time/some type of way, my dad has found peace in knowing that everything is going to be okay. That the man above is in control at the end of the day. That this is life and all you can do is roll with the punches and say, "Okay. What's the next step?" Well, since there is currently no cure... I am taking the next step in creating this GoFundMe to help not only my father but those before, now, and after my father who may have the same cancer.
The reason why I created this account was because: 1) my father (aka my "papa") has cancer 2) the last conversation I had with my papa before I created this account stuck with me. Why? Well the night I created this account, my papa told me that everything was going to be okay because he's lived a full life and has done all of the things that he's wanted to do. Now what I'm about to tell you next is what motivated me to help make a difference... he told me that if my brothers and I had a disease that had no cure, he wouldn't know what he or my mother would do. Of course my parents would do everything they could for my brothers and I but he said, "To see your child go through pain his a very hard thing to experience as a parent. To see your child go through a pain that no one will understand, that no one has an cure or an answer for, is a harder pill to swallow. You're not supposed to go before me, I am." So laid in bed late that night thinking of ways I can help.
Now here we are on GoFundMe. I figured that I take advantage of being a Division 1 athlete in a very competitive conference where games are televised on some of the biggest platforms in sports like ESPN and PAC-12 Network to help kickstart this campaign and the dialogue about Follicular Lymphoma. My hope is that you all are touched by my papa's story and inspired to make a change by helping families going through this life changing experience find a cure some day by first talking about it and then donating to either this account or directly to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
So I'm asking you - whether you be an athlete at ANY level, a nurse, a teacher, a coach, a cook, a bus driver, etc. WHATEVER IT IS - wear some type of LIME-GREEN for at least 1 DAY to help spread awareness. I would love if ya'll would take a picture and post it on your social media with the hashtags #NoOneFightsAlone #JLstrong and tag me in it via Instagram @alleah_laxamana, Facebook, or Twitter @CAL_leah99. It would really mean a lot and I'll be sure to repost it on my personal social media! So far, my team and I have been wearing lime-green bows during our games to spread awareness and my boyfriend Frankie Rios and his teammates on the USC baseball team and coaches have shown their support by wearing lime-green stickers on thier hats/helmets/cleats and tape during their games (which I am forever grateful for). My papa's story has been featured on PAC-12 Network so the word is getting out about Follicular Lymphoma.
This is something bigger than me and I firmly believe that awareness should be a year-round thing. Or until there is a cure. This is not just for my papa; it was inspired by him but it is for every single person going through this life changing experience. More importantly, this is for those to know that they are not alone.
I orginally set my goal at $2,000 to raise by the end of my senior season since it was my first time using GoFundMe. My season ended late May and I thought about taking this account down since I surpassed my second goal to raise $5,000 halfway through. But like I said, I believe that awareness should be a year-round deal or until there is a cure.
The current goal to raise is $10,000 and I have yet to reach it since my season ended. So, I've concluded that I will continue to help families find a cure some day for thier loved ones by keeping this GoFundMe until I raise $10,000. Then, I will withdrawal the donations from this account and directly donate it to the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Until then, please share this page with you friends and family! I'd love to see ya'll help spread the word about Follicular Lymphoma and sport your lime-green!
Lastly, THANK YOU for taking the time to read this page. I hope that this campaign like all the others, goes a long way. But that's all you need to get things started... a little HOPE and a lot of LOVE.
Below is the link to the Lymphoma Research Foundation if you would like to learn more about it:
http://www.lymphoma.org/site/pp.asp?c=bkLTKaOQLmK8E&b=6296735
Organizer
Alleah Laxamana
Organizer
Long Beach, CA
