Help Liam Beat Cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma)

Dear Family, Friends, and Kind Visitors,

My name is Cynthia Cabrera and I’m fundraising for my son, Liam Austin. I almost can’t believe what I’m about to write. When Liam asked the oncologist what were the chances he would get Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, her reply was, “a meteor strike.” Less than 9,000 people get HL in all of the United States a year. In other words, a meteor smashed into Liam's life in August of this year.

Liam is 18 years old and graduated High School in May. All he wanted to do in August was start as a Freshman at Angelo State University. He had been preparing all summer. He was excited to start and get a degree to be a High School Science Teacher. He worked very hard to get to Angelo State. He was Valedictorian of his 2022 class. He came to me and told me he wanted to be Valedictorian as a sophomore. Even the pandemic couldn't stop him from reaching his goal. He saved all his money from his summer job. He received grants, scholarships and loans. He was looking forward to moving in with his best friend from high school.

The photo on the left was from move-in day at Angelo State. He came back home to Austin just 5 days later in the hopes of returning two weeks later. His life was turned upside down when he received his diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage 4 just three weeks later. The photo on the right was taken the day before his fourth chemo treatment. He started chemo treatment in September. He has eight more chemo treatments to go. In other words, he is ⅓ done. The side effects have already landed him in the hospital once already.

He wants to go to summer school to catch up on the school he missed. During treatment, he is taking one online class because he doesn't want to get behind. It is a struggle because he has to do two weeks of lessons and tests in the four days he isn’t suffering from chemo side effects. Since he is no longer a full-time student, he lost two of his scholarships. Throughout his treatment, Liam would like to travel to Angelo State on the weekends where he feels physically able. San Angelo is three and half hours away from Austin. He is often sad about being away from his best friend and girlfriend who are now atteding Angelo State. Plus, nearly all of his high school friends have left for college out of the Austin area, leaving him behind without a support system his own age.

He was an enthusiastic reader and guitar player this past summer. But the side effects of the chemo don’t let him concentrate enough to read fiction now, and he can't lift his guitar to play it on most days. What does distract him from his fatigue and nausea is playing video games on his desktop. But his computer is from 2017, and his monitors were purchased at Goodwill about the same time. He doesn’t ask for much so he waits hours sometimes to download a game because the system doesn’t meet the minimum requirements most of the time.

All Liam wants to do is go to Angelo State and start his life .. again.

We ask that you pray over Liam and our family during this challenging time filled with difficulties and unknowns. He is so appreciative of the love and support he has already been receiving. We hope you find it in your heart to help us raise money for Liam. If you cannot assist us at this time monetarily, we completely understand. But we hope you consider sharing this post to your network. Thank you so much for taking the time to read his story.

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