Nehemiah’s High Dose Chemo and Transplant

On January 25,2023 my brother was told the news that every parent dreads to hear,”Your son has stage 4 cancer”.

My nephew Nehemiah Alvarado was your regular 18 year old teenager, a senior in High School, a gifted carpenter with his whole life ahead him. Until he suddenly developed flu like symptoms and his primary care physician treated it as a viral infection. He was sent home with antibiotics and cough medicine. Nothing seemed to work and he still had a terrible cough. After my sister in law took him in to be seen for the third time for an uncontrollable cough, the primary care provider referred him to get a chest X-ray. That night after the X-ray is when their life would change forever. Nehemiah was diagnosed with Stage 4 testicular cancer that spread to his lungs. Nehemiah was admitted to University Hospital in San Antonio Texas that night. The good news was that University Hospital has oncologist who also are affiliated with MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the best cancer centers in the country. After all the lab work, CT Scans and pathology reports they decided surgery would be too risky due to the size of the mass on his lungs they would not know how much lung capacity he would have left. This is when his journey with aggressive chemotherapy began. Nehemiah is fighting to live. He is not giving up and when the physicians give my brother not so good news Nehemiah’s faith and strength encourages them. Nehemiah celebrated his 19th birthday on April 13,2023. After being in the hospital for months at a time Nehemiah was still on track to get his credits to graduate. On June 5, 2023 Nehemiah graduated! People from all over are praying for Nehemiah, his faith is strong that he will fight this. To be a testimony to others.

On August 30 the surgeons removed part of his lymph node, a large mass and the surgeon also replaced a portion of the inferior vena cava with vascular surgery. The surgery took nine hours.

After the surgery Nehemiah was in much pain but by the third day he was checking off the list the surgeon had for him. He was sent home on the fifth day to continue recovery. This young man is truly a warrior!

This is where we need your help. The pathology report came back and it was not the news my brother wanted to hear. Nehemiah’s tumor markers started to increase again, and his oncologist recommended a High Dose chemotherapy with Auto Transplant. The transplant is in Florida. Nehemiah and his family are facing many unexpected expenses from medical bills insurance does not cover to now travel expenses for his transplant. According to the oncologist this is a costly procedure and even though insurance will cover some of it, travel expenses and long stays along with meals and gas are not covered. As a parent I can only imagine the desperation of doing whatever you can to help your child and trying to keep your faith even though it seems the light at the end of the tunnel is getting dimmer.

We are asking to please help Nehemiah and his family by donating any amount and also by sharing this page so that it will reach all over the world. I was detailed in this request to also make parents aware of teaching their sons to be proactive in examining themselves and if they notice any lumps or abnormalities to feel comfortable to come to you and tell you. Early detection will save their lives.

We are grateful because we know that there are people who will make a donation to a young man they’ve never met and by you doing that Nehemiah’s faith will grow stronger. Thank you and please continue to pray and share this page.