Help Make Rose Strong(er)
Donation protected
2015 marks Rose’s 21st wedding anniversary, her 44th birthday and one year with cancer. As mom, wife, and working woman, like so many of us, she spent much of her adult life taking care of her family while fighting the battle of the bulge. In December of 2013 she finally made the decision to change her life and get healthy by having weight loss surgery. It changed her life, but not as she had hoped. Instead, the doctor found a tumor. Fifteen months later after chemo sessions, 10 hospitalizations, new tumors, and permanent fatigue, Rose’s strength has not faltered-- Neither has support or hope from family and friends. Medical bills are piling up and she now has to turn toward clinical trials to find the cure to her rare cancer. Treatment is expensive and she needs our help to get her there. Please spread the word and donate!
For private donations, please send check made out to:
Rosemarie Pomes-Rodriguez
C/O Kimet Pomes
9431 SW 66 St.
Miami, FL 33173
Rose's story: When Rose was diagnosed with liver cancer our family immediately made wristbands with the words Rose Strong printed on them. Most of us wear them every day, but we all think about it every day. You learn a lot about a disease once you have it or love someone who does. For fifteen months our family has been marking our calendars with Rose’s doctor’s appointments, attending a weekly support group, and looking for television shows with cancer specials.
Life for Rose changed. She was always a beautiful, vivacious, and curvy woman with a zest for life. She is that person you are most disappointed to hear can’t make it to a dinner because she had to work late. She is that awesome. She was overweight for the majority of her adult life. Giving birth to three children was a blessing, but didn’t help any with the weight. Some diets worked, but the weight always came back. 2013 was the year to get healthy and make a permanent change. Instead, during weight loss surgery the doctor discovered a softball-sized tumor. It was cancer.
Located in its fortress, the middle of the liver, the tumor was inoperable. If removed, there would not be enough of the liver left to function. The tumor and liver both stayed. Chemotherapy began. The type of chemotherapy that kills the good, bad, and ugly. It wiped Rose out and made her sick, but better at the same time. Doctors tried different types of chemotherapy; aggressive, invasive, targeted. Until the chemotherapy stopped working. Which is where we are today. Fifteen months later.
There are two routes Rose can take. Continue with the no-longer-as-effective chemotherapy or begin experimental treatments. This brings us to Go Fund Me. While Rose is on a trial wait list in her hometown of Miami there are other hospitals around the nation conducting experimental treatments.
Rose never thought she would go through a college-like application process before her 16-year-old son, Ryan, did. Rose sent her application packets, consisting of medical records and test results, to the hospitals conducting trials. The next step would be an in-person interview and hopefully acceptance into the trail as a patient.
She is scheduled to interview with New York and Boston hospitals on April 27 and 28. While we hope she stays in Miami we want her to take her talents to the doctor who can make Rose’s cancer his next victim.
We are on Go Fund Me so that Rose can make it to her trial interviews and cover her treatment costs. Planes, trains and taxis are in her near future. The perks of a big family is that Rose has a place to stay, but needs to get there. Since she does not have much energy in the mornings or for extended periods of time, her husband will be by her side, as he has been since day one. The medical bills and treatment costs are already piling up and the treatments will be expensive.
In Rose’s words she is the luckiest person in the world. “I have spent the last 15 months fighting to stay alive for my family. They still need me. I'm too young and have too much to give to go. Before the cancer, I was a vibrant, healthy, but overweight, beautiful woman (I don't look the same now) with a zest for life. My entire family has gathered around me and is supporting me in every way. They started the Rose Strong support group in my name, complete with wristbands! Even now, I realize I am the luckiest person in the world for having lived the years I have, the way I have, with my friends, family, and faith."
To follow her progress, view pictures, and post your encouragement, please visit and like our Team Rose Strong facebook page here
For private donations, please send check made out to:Rosemarie Pomes-Rodriguez
C/O Kimet Pomes
9431 SW 66 St.
Miami, FL 33173
Rose's story: When Rose was diagnosed with liver cancer our family immediately made wristbands with the words Rose Strong printed on them. Most of us wear them every day, but we all think about it every day. You learn a lot about a disease once you have it or love someone who does. For fifteen months our family has been marking our calendars with Rose’s doctor’s appointments, attending a weekly support group, and looking for television shows with cancer specials.
Life for Rose changed. She was always a beautiful, vivacious, and curvy woman with a zest for life. She is that person you are most disappointed to hear can’t make it to a dinner because she had to work late. She is that awesome. She was overweight for the majority of her adult life. Giving birth to three children was a blessing, but didn’t help any with the weight. Some diets worked, but the weight always came back. 2013 was the year to get healthy and make a permanent change. Instead, during weight loss surgery the doctor discovered a softball-sized tumor. It was cancer.
Located in its fortress, the middle of the liver, the tumor was inoperable. If removed, there would not be enough of the liver left to function. The tumor and liver both stayed. Chemotherapy began. The type of chemotherapy that kills the good, bad, and ugly. It wiped Rose out and made her sick, but better at the same time. Doctors tried different types of chemotherapy; aggressive, invasive, targeted. Until the chemotherapy stopped working. Which is where we are today. Fifteen months later.
There are two routes Rose can take. Continue with the no-longer-as-effective chemotherapy or begin experimental treatments. This brings us to Go Fund Me. While Rose is on a trial wait list in her hometown of Miami there are other hospitals around the nation conducting experimental treatments.
Rose never thought she would go through a college-like application process before her 16-year-old son, Ryan, did. Rose sent her application packets, consisting of medical records and test results, to the hospitals conducting trials. The next step would be an in-person interview and hopefully acceptance into the trail as a patient.
She is scheduled to interview with New York and Boston hospitals on April 27 and 28. While we hope she stays in Miami we want her to take her talents to the doctor who can make Rose’s cancer his next victim.
We are on Go Fund Me so that Rose can make it to her trial interviews and cover her treatment costs. Planes, trains and taxis are in her near future. The perks of a big family is that Rose has a place to stay, but needs to get there. Since she does not have much energy in the mornings or for extended periods of time, her husband will be by her side, as he has been since day one. The medical bills and treatment costs are already piling up and the treatments will be expensive.
In Rose’s words she is the luckiest person in the world. “I have spent the last 15 months fighting to stay alive for my family. They still need me. I'm too young and have too much to give to go. Before the cancer, I was a vibrant, healthy, but overweight, beautiful woman (I don't look the same now) with a zest for life. My entire family has gathered around me and is supporting me in every way. They started the Rose Strong support group in my name, complete with wristbands! Even now, I realize I am the luckiest person in the world for having lived the years I have, the way I have, with my friends, family, and faith."
To follow her progress, view pictures, and post your encouragement, please visit and like our Team Rose Strong facebook page here
Organizer and beneficiary
Kristina Rodriguez
Organizer
Miami, FL
Rosemarie Pomes-Rodriguez
Beneficiary
