My Dad Noel Cunanan.

Hi, my name is Noelhyn Cunanan and I'm fundraising for my father Noel Cunanan. His wife of 38 years, the love of his life, and my mother Lhyn Cunanan passed away on Monday, August 7, 2023. Yes, I'm named after the two of them because they are the sweetest happiest parents in the world and they were so happy to start a family in March of 1988.

My mom was my Dad's world. She was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2007, when I was just out of High School and he was working as a lab technician at a science laboratory in Los Angeles California. We've always believed that her diabetes was partially caused by her having to work so hard to help support the family and not getting the proper nutrition she needed on her busy schedule and limited budget.

The years went by and diabetes turned into Chronic Kidney Failure. In 2015 my Dad left his career to take care of my mom full-time. She's been receiving regular dialysis since 2019 and continuously got weaker and weaker. It was a struggle watching my mother in pain while we prayed for a new kidney.

In January of this year, we got a call from the hospital that told us to bring her in and prep her for surgery, she was getting a new kidney! Unfortunately the biopsy did not meet the requirements necessary for a kidney transplant and she never received the surgery. They told us to keep our hopes up and we were at the top of the list for a transplant but the opportunity never came. A few months later in April she had a heart attack in her home and was hospitalized with open heart surgery. She's tough and she made it through! Four Days later she had a stroke and triple bypass surgery. She fought through that too but lost movement of her left side.

My mother Lhyn was so strong, she fought through all of those surgeries and gained enough strength to be moved from the hospital to a care center. My dad stayed by her side and tried to help her through everything continuing to be her full-time nurse. Due to her actually being hospitalized, he was no longer able to receive compensation for her care and their savings dwindled quickly.

My Dad was basically living at the hospital with my Mom and even let go of their apartment in July to cut costs. On Monday August 7, 2023 while I was on vacation in New York to deliver news to my future husband's family that we're having a baby, my Dad noticed my mom was struggling to breathe. They rushed her back to the hospital, where they found an infection in her blood from the bed wounds she developed from not being able to move for months. They sedated her at the hospital, and she never woke up from it. Her heart stopped a total of 4 times, they revived her 3 times. The 4th time, the hospital staff and my father decided it was time to let her go. She couldn't fight anymore, not even for her future grandchild that she was so happy to hear about. We never really got to say goodbye, but we are relieved she's finally at peace.

My boyfriend Julien and I booked plane tickets to return home to help my Dad arrange everything. So here we are two days later setting up funeral arrangements and figuring out next steps for my Dad. Everything is overwhelming but we're plugging away. Julien, myself and our future child will be fine but we're worried about my Dad. His car is in really bad shape, he has no income for now and he still has to mourn the love of his life. We set up a bed for him in our one bedroom apartment while we figure out where to go from here.

My mother and father are from the Philipines. I was born there but spent most of my life in Los Angeles. My mother's wishes are to lay to rest back in her home of the Philipines. So our goal is to raise enough money for my Dad to get a plane ticket and get set up with a place to live for a few months while he figures out what to do next. Everybody knows life is crazy, but it's a little overwhelming for all of us right now and we could use a little help. We are all very proud and humble people and don't like to ask for handouts, so writing this has been extremely difficult, but ultimately needed to be done. We know times are tough for everybody so anything will help. Thank you for your compassion and generosity, we are genuinely grateful!