Help Elijah Get Treatment in Mexico

Hello,

My name is Tara Chavis. This is the story of my 24-year-old son Elijah. He's a brilliant talented musician and an incredible friend, son, and brother.

At the age of 15 he was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It was a battle that came with a few near-death experiences. He fought every day to live his life as a “normal” Teenager. Being in a newly established band that was quickly becoming popular in the music scene, he did everything to hide his disease and play each and every show. Not an easy task being that he lost his hair and spent weeks upon months in the hospital clinging to life half the time only to come back strong. With a green wig and sunglasses so no one could tell he had cancer he quickly became the frontman for his band.

With the right chemo his Hodgkins was sent into remission. With youth on his side, he recovered strong. He continued to write and play music. The band even began touring across the USA.

At the end of 2019 the unthinkable happened…. While at a routine cancer checkup, they noticed a fast-growing mole on the top of his head. A week before his east coast tour began, he went in for a biopsy. As he was touring the results came back as malignant Melanoma which needed to be removed. However, the removal needed to be a wide excision which took out a huge portion of his scalp leaving a giant scar on the top of his head. A few months later a scan would show it had spread to the lymph nodes in his neck. Genetic testing was also positive for a cancer gene. Meaning the fight had only just begun. He had a full neck dissection to remove all the lymph nodes on his neck. After that, the immunotherapy began.

A couple of months later we noticed a lymph node growing in his neck. It began growing at a rapid rate. Eventually became the size of a baseball popping out of his neck. Nothing was stopping it. They tried immunotherapy, double dose immunotherapy, injecting a virus directly into it, but the tumor kept growing! It was frightening. The last resort was a double dose of chemo pills alongside a double of immunotherapy. He spiked a high fever of 104 that would break only to instantly spike again. There were sores in his mouth, rash all over his body. Couldn't eat or drink. We were told this was it and he was put on hospice. Then out of nowhere, it started shrinking. However, 4 weeks of being that ill from the chemo almost killed him on its own. They decided to stop the chemo and continue the immunotherapy with the hopes to send it into remission.

Three months later it came back so radiation was next. It helped but caused damage to his thyroid, salivary glands and throat.

So here we find ourselves today….3 months later it is back and in his salivary gland, a golf ball size tumor in his armpit, and throughout his neck front and back. This time we have been told that his prognosis is not hopeful. If he has any chance at all he must stay on the Chemo pills for the rest of his life even though his body cannot tolerate them.

He has gone through countless surgeries, radiation and chemo treatments. To say that this existence has been unfair would be an understatement. But still, he persists.

The cancer has now passed the scope of treatment that Western medicine can provide.

While researching alternative treatments, we came across a state-of-the-art cancer treatment center out of the country. This center is completely holistic and integrative and has battled Melanoma cancer into remission in multiple patients. Elijah is in the prime of his life and we are very hopeful that by giving his immune system the supportive boost it needs, he will be able to continue his fight.

For a three-week stay at the treatment center with everything included, the cost would be $47,400. This is a steep price for a family that has been fighting this battle for the past 8 years. Insurance will not cover any treatment outside the US, let alone one that centers on a holistic approach.

We have set the total fundraising goal to $54,500 to pay for flights, accommodations, and rent for Elijah’s caregiver while he receives treatment.

Any donation would go directly to fighting this cancer and saving Elijah’s life. Thank you for taking the time to read this and helping out however you can.

NOTE:

We want to take a moment to thank everyone who donated to our previous campaign. Not only did it allow Elijah to get out off debt with past medical bills, it also covered nearly 10 months of treatments and the cost of living for himself and his caregiver who were unable to work during the time he was in treatment. A cost breakdown for the money we are looking to raise is listed below.

This is our last chance to save Elijah and battle the cancer back into a manageable state. We are quite literally, buying time with the money donated.

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your continued support.

Cost Breakdown:

Total fundraising goal: $54,500