Iram Gomez: Battling colon cancer

Hello, if you are here, you have hopefully read Iram's cancer battle journal on the Caring Bridge site. We are raising money to help with medical bills (co-pays, uncovered treatments and care) transportation costs (driving daily to the hospital), loss of income while Iram is on unpaid medical leave and miscellaneous expenses due to this tragedy that has hit our family.

Iram is a wonderful man to whom I have been married for over 25 years. We have three adult children, Azriel, Ciaran and Maia. We have been completely blindsided by Iram's recent cancer diagnosis and the severity of the complications he has endured in his efforts to undergo chemotherapy treatment to survive this cancer and live as long as he can.

Iram came to the US from Cuba, via Spain in the early 1980s. He spent his youth on the Northside of Chicago, became a citizen at the age of 18 and entered the US Navy. He and I met at Northeastern Illinois University where he was getting his BA in History and Antrhopolgy (post serving his 4 years in the service). We married a few years later and he worked as an academic counselor at NEIU and I became a teacher in the Chicago Public schools. We had our first son, Azriel, and Iram became a stay-at-home dad for a year while I was teaching, he also pursued a Master of Education at UIC. With my second pregnancy, we were looking for a slower change of pace and we moved to MN in 2001 where my mom Laurie lived and I had gone to high school. Our second child, Ciaran and our third, Maia were both born here in MN. We have raised our family on a little hobby farm in Franconia Township, Iram loves the wide open space, the wildlife and the serenity of our home.

Besides being a devoted, loving and caring husband and father, Iram has dedicated over 20 years of his life working for the VA, helping veterans and their spouses and dependents receive benefits that they are legally entitled to due to their disability status. He is a veteran himself, having served in the Navy at the time of the 1st Gulf War. He was exposed to jet fuels on aircraft carriers that have been linked to colon cancers. While we can never know for sure what has caused his illness, we do know that it is devastating for him and all who love and care for him.

Please know that whatever help you are able to give, is so appreciated that it is hard to put it into words. We are so grateful for our supportive family, and community of friends and co-workers, We have been truly blessed with caring people around us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.