Help Me Fight Cancer!

Hello, my name is Johan Rodriguez.

I am a 22-year-old Colombian student in my third year of studies, but suddenly I am facing a battle with cancer. I received a scholarship to study in the United States, but I have no sponsors. Neither my family nor I have enough resources to meet the expenses of my unexpected illness.

Here's what happened. About two months ago, I began experiencing severe pain in my back and abdomen. At first I ignored it, thinking it was caused by a problem in my spine that I've had since childhood. I thought it would pass quickly, but the symptoms got worse, and I started vomiting. I could barely eat without nausea or pain. I lost a lot of weight, couldn't sleep, and started to feel weak and tired.

This went on for several weeks without improving, so I decided to go to the doctor and find out what my problem was. After a series of tests, they discovered a large tumor in the center of my abdomen. With help from some friends, I underwent some more tests which confirmed that it's malignant and is causing the problems in my digestive tract and other organs.

The cancer I'm fighting appears to be very invasive, and I already have metastasize in my lungs, liver and kidneys. I've been hospitalized, and now I face another problem: covering the expenses of my hospital stay as well as the treatments will take a large sum of money that I do not have.

My mother, whom I have not seen for three years, lives in Colombia and works hard to support my younger brother. She doesn't have sufficient resources to come here and be with me during my illness, and I don't have any financial resources to help her get an American visa and ticket to come here. As you can imagine, I want to have her here at this moment, and she wants so much to come.

The expenses of bringing my mother here and providing for her food and accommodation are on top of the costs of my indefinite hospitalization, tests, and treatment which will be thousands of dollars. It adds up to an astronomical amount of money!

I need at least $5000 to begin to cover all these needs. That's why I'm opening this GoFundMe. Whatever you can contribute will be deeply appreciated. For now, I will have to suspend my studies, but I still hope to get well, complete my studies, and graduate.

Due to my health challenges now, Ivonne Betancourt, a mentor of my trust, will receive all the donations gathered. That is the reason why she appears as the one benefited from my campaing.

I will post updates on my progress to keep you informed.

Donations are accepted through

Venmo

PayPal

Zelle

Check

I appreciate your kindness

Sincerely, Johan