Help my brother Paulo to fight this nasty cancer

Hi, my name is Shieka and I'm writing this on behalf of my brother, Saulo Paulo Villegas.

March of 2013, my brother who was 27 yrs old at that time, was diagnosed of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma stage 2.

As you can imagine, this has been an overwhelming ordeal for him and our entire family. His faith was strong and he dealt with it positively and has

undergone and followed all the treatment protocols without delay. He had 6 sessions of chemotherapy and 35 sessions of radiation therapy. He had a very successful treatment. The same year, he stopped having chemo and radiation therapy and just taking chemo drugs. He was able to go every 3 months to 6 months for check ups.

Year 2014, by God's grace and mercy, he was told that he is cancer free! It was a relief for the whole family to heard that news!

After 10 yrs of being cancer free. His cancer came back.

January of 2024, they did a PET scan and found out that his cancer metastasis.

As he turned 38 yrs old on Feb. 2024-He had 4 cycles of chemotherapy and did the PET scan again, and it shows that the lump on his neck got bigger. He had another 6 cycles of chemotherapy and did the scan again. Unfortunately, the lump on his neck is not responding to the treatment.

From November 2024 up to Jan. 2025, he had 25 sessions of radiation therapy.

As you can see on the pictures, he is having a hard time straigthen up his neck. He has a hard time swallowing and ended up always choking. He wasn't able to eat or drink and is losing a lot of weight. They talked about putting a PEG tube for his nutrition. But, they tried the NG tube first and it seems to be helping him a lot. It also affected his eyesight on his right eye.

Insurance coverage/ health care system in the Philippines works differently from the insurance/health care system here in the U.S.

For example.

They need to pay cash for his nutritionist and feeding formula that he takes every 4 hrs.

My brother feels numb and weak on his right side. He needs to have an MRI at a different facility because they don't have it at the current hospital where he is staying. They have to pay the ambulance upfront before they can transfer him.

Also,he can't lay down and stay still for MRI. So, he needs to be put to sleep and needs an anesthesiologist. They also need to pay upfront before the anesthesiologist do the procedure. Those are the only few things that need to be paid upfront or else they can't do it for him.

These are some of frustrating parts about the healthcare in the Philippines.

My brother and his wife have three children ages 15,13 and 3 yrs old. He works as a Test Engineer in semi conductor company in the Philippines. When his cancer came back last year, he was still able to work remotely even having treatments. This year, has been a difficult journey for him and to his family. He isn't able to work now and that creates a significant financial burden. Struggling to cover medical expenses, ongoing bills, and daily expenses for his family. This is the reason why I want to start this fundraising for him.

No contribution is too small. Every donation, every share, every prayer matters. Your generosity will go directly toward his medical care, medication, and the treatments that he needs to move forward.

Thank you for reading, for caring, and for understanding with us during this incredibly difficult time.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you!