Help Honor His Life

(PLEASE SEE UPDATES for the latest, my dad James went to be with the Lord 4/6/23 at 3:10am EST)

Hi, my name is Jamie Pelaez and I am putting together this fundraiser to help my dad James Arnold Pelaez out in his time of need.

My dad asked me to put this together and that in itself speaks volumes as he has never been good at asking for help.

However, he has come to the realization that he needs it more than ever now and that sometimes it takes a village!

Last year he started having issues eating and being able to sustain his weight.

At first, he thought it was some lifestyle changes he had made, however when the weight started to drop more than what made sense, he went to see a physician.

He was placed on several meds, but nothing seemed to be working and as each month progressed he got worse.

What was wild to me is why he would be placed on any meds, without an actual diagnosis of what was happening.

I wanted to help him holistically, but without a diagnosis, there was not much I could do to assist him and he did not want to try anything to better his health in general until he knew what he was up against.

Even though he was seeking help from doctors, the most glaring issue, which was he was barely able to eat and drink to stay hydrated and was losing weight rapidly, which didn't seem to be their biggest concern, though it should have.

Why they did not do Upper endoscopy or laparoscopy, I am not sure. It would be the first place most doctors would look in this case.

In mid Nov. he was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer Stage 1. As far as Cancer goes, it is probably one of the best scenarios as it is

easy to overcome naturally and even mainstream medical procedures have come a long way in this specific case.

However, his doctor wanted to give him radiation treatments for several weeks daily...

It would have been a death sentence for his already extremely weakened body & immune system.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

James, put that on hold as he realized he was not in any position to focus on this issue at that moment and went back to his primary Dr. in early Dec. to explain his concerns. They agreed with his concerns and set him up with Gastroenterologist, for Jan. 6th.

Late Dec. my dad went on medical leave from his job at Dominos. That's when I knew things were really bad as my dad is a hard worker and not the type to slack. Even at 64 and not in his best shape, he would run circles around his younger co-workers.

However, now that has changed.

My daughter Jaya and I took an emergency trip back home to Florida in early Jan. with what little I had left to assess the situation and to see how we can help him.

My dad most of my life has been a bit more on the hefty side at 6ft tall, he could have used to lose some weight, but not to the level he was experiencing.

However, when I walked into my childhood home and saw my 6ft tall dad look small and frail it took everything in me not to cry.

I hugged him gently and we spent the next week doing our best to get him better help and also tried to get him to go to the hospital.

He would not go, because he wanted to wait to see what the Gastroenterologist had to say first. He had a CT scan coming up

on without IV contrast for Jan. 13th, which I told him made no sense since he couldn't swallow enough fluids to drink the one

of the 450ml Readi-Cat 2 aka Barium Sulfate and they wanted him to drink both.

When I went to pick up these, I explained to them he can barely drink two measuring cups of liquid and I told him in his case IV contrast makes the most sense. I was told, "Just tell him to do the best that he can."

This trip back home was the first time we didn't karaoke, watch the sunset at the beach or even get to take a photo together as he just was not up to it. He was just too weak and was dealing with a lot of anxiety.

We spent the time sharing old memories, cleaning his house, watching one of our favorite family movies, praying for him and doing what we could to help make his life easier while we were there.

Here is a picture of us during our previous visit when he was in much better health for reference.

Needless to say, I didn't want to leave him and knew he needed more help. Gratefully, I was able to get my Uncle Bobbie, my late mom's brother to stay with him and monitor the situation. That was a bit of relief, but I knew that wasn't going to be enough.

A few days after we left, the imaging center went ahead and did a CT scan despite him maybe drinking 1.5 cups of liquid and letting them know ahead of time how little he was able to consume. The following Monday, they let him know he had a collapsed esophagus and scheduled him for surgery for Feb 1st.

I knew in my spirit, he would not make it 2 more weeks without being able to get more fluids and nutrients in.

He was getting worse and drinking maybe a measuring cup a day and a few strawberries. Definitely not enough to sustain his current state for sure.

I prayed fervently about what to do. My Uncle Bobbie could not get him to go to the hospital, despite him clearly getting weaker.

That week my dad, James, had a pretty bad fall as he blacked out just trying to get up and was also turning jaundiced.

If Uncle Bobbie had not been there, he most likely would not have been able to get himself back up.

I pleaded for him to go to the hospital, and he said he would, but he was definitely procrastinating.

I knew I needed a miracle to get him to the hospital so he could have a fighting chance.

Thankfully after much prayer, I felt I needed to reach out to his local best friend Val, who was able to get the job done and called 911.

Dad got to go on his first ambulance trip, which he was joking about with the paramedics. It was a sign my prayers had been answered; that he would not only go willingly but also happily so. Halleluyah!

James has been in the hospital since the Jan. 20th and has been diagnosed with Cancer in his esophagus as well as his prostate. They did a proper CT scan with IV contrast. So, it was not a collapsed esophagus, which would have been the better diagnosis of course.

The lump in his esophagus is definitely the greater of the two cancers and seems to be the primary cancer thus far.

Between fluids and the temporary feeding tube they had prior to installing a PEG tube on Jan. 30th, he is starting to feel a bit better, however, the road to recovery & restoration is far from over.

He is very sore in general but even more so since the PEG tube was installed. He will need a walker for an undetermined amount of time, physical therapy and either needs to go to a rehabilitation center or have a nurse come to his home once he is released from the hospital.

Thanks to friends, family and his trusty pup Pablo getting to visit him, he is hopeful about the future!

As far as Esophageal Cancer and what will be done next, once he is rehabilitated more than they will be discussing the next steps. I will keep posting updates as we get more news here.

This GoFundMe has been created to help pay for rehab costs, in-home care, any other medical costs, supplements, holistic care, travel expenses and to help him in his day-to-day life in his time of need.

Regardless if you can help financially, please share this with everyone you can to help my dad, James fight for his life with dignity!

THANK YOU for taking the time to read this and for giving any amount you can.

Prayers are also graciously excepted!