Sharon Monte/Ryan Namba cancer fund

Sharon Lynne Monte + Ryan Namba Cancer Fund

Our Story

In January 2018, Sharon Monte (mother of Ryan Namba) was visiting Ryan to celebrate the holidays before starting another overseas trip with the merchant marines where she has served for over 11 years. 

A nagging winter cough prompted her to head into the doctor to see what was up. 

Things moved quickly from there. 

What they initially thought was a minor sinus infection was diagnosed as small cell lung cancer. Her first chemo treatment was an aggressive inpatient treatment in February. She has since had 6 treatments total - about 1 every 3 weeks for 4 days at a time. 

The City of Hope has been fighting with us every step of the way and the latest rounds of treatments have been incredibly effective (see images below). 

Unfortunately, after initially approving the next 33 days of radiation in April, our insurance company informed us that they would not cover the 33 days of radiation that she desperately needs. 

Sharon is now a stage 4 small cell cancer patient. The treatments have been helping reverse the course of the cancer and we genuinely believe that she can beat this... So we are coming to you in a time of desperate need. 

Ryan has exhausted his personal savings to cover costs and help care for his mother for the last 6 grueling months... But now our only hope is to humbly ask for your assistance. 

The costs for the 33 days of radiation has been quoted at $350,000. We are in last minute negotiations to have the insurance company allow us to just cover the 10% copay, which is why we are asking for anything that you can provide to help us fight this. 

Literally anything will help - $5, $10, $100 - it all adds up and this could not be more urgent than it is right now. If we do not have this down payment together in the immediate future the treatment will not take place.