Help Me Celebrate Another Year of Life!

Aloha and mahalo nui loa to all of you who have been my lifelines! I also thank you future lifelines :)

I may have cancer, but it does not have me! This is what I try to remind myself. 

I need your help to believe and walk in this truth every day.

I am grateful to God for walking with me through the wilderness for the past 40 years of my life.

May 7th is my birthdate. I have published this page on my big day in hopes of living to see another one. I intend to celebrate it for the remainder of the year! 

Will you help me?

The uterine leiomyosarcoma cancer prognosis is grim, but I am fighting for my promised land! I have already made it five months beyond what my oncologist imagined possible.

The scans revealed cancerous tumors throughout my spine, pancreas, lungs, esophagus, pelvis and hips. 

I truly know Jesus is "The Great Physician." 

He has shown me his healing hands and kind heart through so many people.

I love to reference the Bible story of Aaron and Hur who helped lift up Moses' arms during a battle when he grew too weary to keep his arms up.

In my weariness, your prayers, meals, letters, words of encouragement, visits, financial generosity and other means of support, have been such a blessing and have helped sustain me.

Aloha nui loa!

Alas, I am still in hospice care at home. The goal of hospice is comfort. Medication is often prescribed for pain, but the source of the pain is not investigated in their care. I chose hospice because I needed more support. I take or try to stop taking some meds because the side-effects can be harsh.

Having taken strong medication one day and exhausting myself outdoors, I lost consciousness in the shower over a month ago. I am grateful my sister and a dear friend came to my rescue. That was my second time fainting in the shower.

There are times when I am just too fatigued to get out of bed or even eat as of late. 

I was 104 pounds just last month. I am currently 94 pounds after previously weighing 83 pounds in January. A healthy weight for my height is 120 pounds.

I apologize to the many of you who have called and/or texted without receiving a timely reply if at all. I have felt overwhelmed physically, mentally, spiritually, and financially.

And of recent, a dear friend passed away from cancer-related complications. In addition to grieving, I began to contemplate my own mortality through the lens of my stage 4 cancer prognosis.

I don't believe my time here on Earth has to end so soon however. 

But what I suspect as a pinched nerve causing incredible neuropathy could lead to paralysis. 

Therefore, I am agressively seeking other alternatives for treatment and pain relief. 

I also want to see my friends and family on the mainland who, in addition to friends and church family here on Oahu, are a source of hope. 

I am seeking financial support for the remainder of the year into the next (God-willing) to help cover:

Cost of living

Rent

Travel expenses i.e. flight and accomodation 

Alternative treatments i.e. accupuncture, massage therapy, high dose Vitamin C etc. 

Hospital expenses not covered by insurance 

The amount I seek above is an approximate amount of what I have made for a year in my career as an adjunct college instructor before taxes.

The gravity of what I am experiencing is often uncomfortable to share at times for an array of reasons, but I need your help.

I may be able to prevent paralysis, walk normally and comfortably if certain tumors and/or nerves are ablated (burned away) alongside other treatment. 

Unless I am accompanied by someone who can assist me with my wheelchair, for safety reasons I am restricted to the premises of my apartment building.

I want to freely walk again without pain, my wheelchair, cane or walker.

Thank you for helping me get there!!!