Sweet D's Sunshine

This is an odd feeling to be sitting here right now asking you, my family and friends, for help. But here we are. The reason I am reaching out today is to ask you all to support me as I continue to seek out care for my dad. As many of you know my dad has been ill for quite some time. Ultimately, I am trying to get my dad the care and treatment he deserves so he can live a normal life again.
 
The biggest hurdle at the moment is affording my dad the comprehensive testing and treatment required for his recovery. I have witnessed the tremendous generosity of mankind during my mom’s fatal battle with brain cancer when I was 5 in 1997.  She passed away the following year and my life was forever changed seeing our friends, family, and even strangers, reach out to us with open arms. As one might expect, this was quite a life-altering event. It ingrained an intense motivating force within all of us, but for me specifically, it drew me towards science and helping mankind, and this has been my greatest motivation thus far. This drove me to pursue chemistry in my undergraduate studies where I learned to appreciate the intricacies of chemistry in the world around us. For my graduate work, I wanted to study in a field in which there was a potential for direct impact on human health. I began my Ph.D. thesis work in Molecular Biology in 2015 at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston TX. My thesis project aims to add to the mechanistic underlying of a devastating form of muscular dystrophy. While studying this disease I have learned many things about the complexities of biology and the human body, and how much we still do not know. 

In October 2017, however, I had to take a break from my studies. My dad’s condition had progressively worsened.  He was bedridden most days and unable to leave the house for weeks, even months. Debilitating fatigue, extreme joint pain, and various neurological symptoms were just a few of the many symptoms that were progressively worsening. I decided I needed to intervene, there had to be some way I could find my dad help. With this goal in mind, I packed my bags and went to Oregon. As soon as I arrived I knew this would be an unforgettable visit. It had been a few years since I’d been able to see my dad, but it looked as though he had easily aged 10+ years. The man standing over the sink was not at all the image of my dad I had in my head. Once lively, full of spirit and adventurous. Now fragile, broken and scared. He crumbled in my arms and began to sob.

I decided right then that I would put as much as I possibly could into helping make my dad whole again. It has been an uphill battle, visiting many doctors and researching many different aspects, but we are finally starting to get some answers.  With my experiences and educational background in mind, I am now trying to make sense of my dad’s developing illness. With the help and support of my peers and the medical community, I am realizing that his condition has great potential to improve; focusing my efforts further to help my dad get the correct treatment.

So far, we know my dad suffers from various systemic infections leading to chronic illness and severe neurological symptoms. We are just at the tip of the iceberg it seems, but we are slowly chipping it away. I am my dad’s only child and all he has right now. Although I am able to support him emotionally, he needs more than that. While trying to focus on my education and research I am unable to provide for him financially. I truly believe I will be able to get him effective help with financial assistance. To compound this, we do not live in the same region of the country and helping from a distance is even more difficult and expensive, meaning I will likely have to help him relocate. These conditions are treatable with proper diagnosis and on-going treatment, but this requires more testing and therapies than we can afford.

Any proceeds you can donate to help me on this endeavor to save my dad would be greatly appreciated. Any amount helps and sharing is just as helpful as donating!! :)