Jose Rivas

José René Rivas was diagnosed with colon and brain cancer in 2020. A hard working man who never gave up put on a good fight for 3 years and never lost his faith. My father went through several treatments and surgeries but put on a smile through the pain. Cancer is not what everyone thinks as there were several side effects that we weren’t prepared for. He had several seizures and more from the medication, there was several traumatizing moments but it was more hard for our 7 year old brother. My siblings didn’t get to experience a father figure the way i did before, my dad slowly started loosing facial muscles, arm strength, and would be more fatigue. He was our main provider and even if he didn’t feel good; he would go to work until he no longer couldn’t. My dad was not only a father to us but to everyone who walked into our home, he was very welcoming, funny, caring, and understanding.

Early February 2023, he went in for a brain tumor removal and he was doing great and recovering until he caught aspirational pneumonia. He slowly started loosing his voice and was in deep pain as his body was going through so much. Once he lost his voice he relied on a marker and a white board to communicate. Eventually he became really tired and couldn’t breathe on his own, my dad fell into a coma and lost his brain function. He sadly passed away July 24, 2023.

Jose was never informed of his prognosis as we didn’t want that information to harm him, he loved everyday grateful for what he had and always made everyone smile. He was loved by many, had four kids, and married for 21 years.

He stayed in the hospital for 5 months before he passed and during this time he was supported by my mom day and night, all of our savings went into medical bills and rehab. We never ask for financial help but we are in the position where we really need it. Anything is appreciated, thank you.