Sustaining Dad's Health and Hope

This past year, our dad, Celso San Juan, was diagnosed with myelofibrosis and polymyositis, a complex of medical conditions that has required him to get regular blood transfusions for his survival over the past months. Dad lives in the Philippines, where blood transfusions are difficult to come by especially for his blood type. The medication he is taking, Jakavi, costs about 100 U.S. dollars per day, based on current Philippine peso exchange rates, but he has been able to take that cost down to about 70 USD per day thanks to a discounted rate. His doctor at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City says that the most permanent cure for his condition is getting a bone marrow transplant, which will eliminate the need for regular blood transfusions and the costly medication to maintain his survival.  The bone marrow transplant costs about 40,000 USD, equivalent to 400 days of medication. However, there are continuing concerns about whether the transplant is even feasible due to complications in his current health condition that might make the operations too risky to attempt.

The 42,000 USD goal covers the bone marrow transplant, the tissue-matching (400 USD per procedure), and some allowance for medication prior to the success of the operation.

While the bone marrow transplant is still an uncertainty, the procedure and its associated specific costs give us a tangible working goal for your generosity that will not only help Dad with the mounting costs of survival and figuring out the cure, but will lift his spirit up in the midst of all this expensive uncertainty. Knowing that a potential definite cure would be covered by your generosity would take an enormous load away from him.

Since Philippine bank accounts are not eligible for direct deposit from gofundme, S.J. (Saul Jerome San Juan) has set up a separate bank account in the USA to receive the funds. S.J. will send the money to Dad in the Philippines periodically to assist in his current expenses.

Salamat po!