Fxck Cancer: Please help Chef Riko’s fight with MDS-AML

Aloha friends! After a few weeks of processing, learning, adapting, planning logistics, and most of all, coping, we are ready to share an unexpected life update with our family and friends.

Whether you know him as; Riko, Chef Riko, Eric, Enrico, Dad, Yoda, Bruddah, Grandpa, Groda, or a beloved husband, our dad is one of the most diligent, charismatic, selfless, thoughtful, and unequivocally talented, dedicated, passionate chefs (AND overall wonderful human being).

Maui has been home to Chef Riko for about 20 years, where he and his wife, Kim live on the West Side (Lahaina) with their sweet rescue dog, EleEle. A place where he and our mom thought would be home for the rest of their lives. Sadly, their world and their plans for Maui to be their forever home has been blindsided by a recent diagnosis of MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome)/AML, a blood cancer that affects blood stem cells.

After the tragic wildfires in Maui in Aug 2023 which have changed the pace of life for so many locals in Lahaina, Chef spent tireless hours dedicating his working hands to the kitchen where he worked at the Montage Kapalua Bay.

During the last year, he was able to pivot and feed not only hotel guests who were on island at the time of the fires, but employees, colleagues, as well as their families and loved one’s while they were being sheltered at the hotel. He has provided meals to Kupuna and had dedicated his heart, soul and energy to taking care of his people, putting others needs before his own, and in recent months, he’d go weeks without a day off, averaging 16 to 18 hours a day and at most, 20 hours.

If you know Chef, you know that nobody cares more about you, in and outside of the kitchen, more than he does. All he wants is for you to be the best version of yourself. His love language has always been food and has shared his love for his family, friends, and colleagues all through food, whether it is cooking for you, baking bread for you or just helping you with recipes on the phone or a quick text message.

In mid-April, Chef left the Montage Kapalua Bay to pursue his “Mission Michelin” concept, where he aspired to bringing at least a one Michelin star to the Island of Maui, most specifically to his beloved town of Lahaina, where he could provide comfort through food to his community. After taking a brief sabbatical to focus on his project, he went to the Pacific Northwest to visit family and work on his concept during his down time. While in the Portland/Washington area, he was introduced to a new Food Cart Pod near family, where he realized he could represent Maui through food in this Pod and was in the works of opening a plate lunch food truck, another dream he has had for years.

While visiting family in the PNW, he developed what we believed was just a common cold or as the doctors told him, allergies. As the symptoms progressed and this “cold/allergies” did not go away, two urgent care visits and one ER visit later, while in PNW, his month was spent in bed, and we grew concerned that this was more than just an average cold.

Chef returned home to Maui and was in a very lethargic state upon arrival, knowing that what she observed when she picked him up from the airport was not normal for him and never seeing him this way, our Mom took him to the ER in Maui, where he was tested for every virus and bacteria possible, as well blood work was done to get to the bottom of his fatigue and lethargy. It was there that doctors discovered that all his blood counts were extremely low and some even critical. This led to his first blood transfusion and to an admittance to the hospital for further testing and a potential diagnosis.

This is where he was pre-diagnosed with some type of blood cancer. After extensive lab work, testing, biopsy, more testing, research and daily visits to the hospital on Maui, the doctors were only able to supplement his blood level needs rather than treat the actual cancer. He learned that they do not treat his type of cancer in Maui. He was told he would need to seek care on another island. After lots of quick research and a short time window begin his treatments, and get him care near family, he had the option of Oahu or the PNW, where each of us lives. After awaiting a bed in Oahu and getting transfused every three days, he was blessed through an angel of a friend, and was connected to the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute in Portland, OR, where he was admitted on June 21 and received his first Chemotherapy treatment the following evening.

Fast forward to today, June 27, 2024, as our dad, Chef Riko embarks upon what should have been a culinary journey and has now become his medical journey. There are so many uncertainties and adversities that he and the family must face. We don’t have a definitive timeline, nor do we have many answers — we are quickly adapting to the progression of his cancer and the impact that it has on his body. It’s aggressive, but our dad, Chef Riko has great strength and is supported by his family. The OHSU Cancer Team has been tremendous, and we are forever grateful for “our angel of a friend” for making this connection. We believe that he will be in the PNW long-term as he receives treatment and will ultimately need a Stem Cell (Bone Marrow) Transplant, which leads, us to this page.

Our parents don’t ever ask for help and we know that even now, despite this life changing event, it’s still hard for them to seek help.

 

But we know that it is essential currently. With our dad, Chef Riko not working and mom taking unpaid HFL to provide support and care for him, we’ve asked for their blessing to create this page in hopes that our community can provide support at any capacity, whether it be through thoughts and prayers, monetarily or through whatever healing modalities. While we don’t have any expectations, we just want to express our gratitude, nonetheless.

The goal provided above, unfortunately, is only a fraction of the upcoming costs of his care and the logistics associated with providing supportive care and relocation. Luckily, insurance will cover some of the medical costs, however, they will still need to pay out of pocket for expenses, copays, percentage of covered expenses along with any other additional treatment costs, loss of employment, their portion of surgeries that are not covered, which is information that we are still waiting to receive.

The funds from this page will financially support the following: (although not an exhaustive list, as we do not know how long this will continue although we know that it will be minimally a year. These costs are conservative estimates as we have been focusing on dad, Chef Riko’s medical needs first).

Goal: $102,500

We know that this news comes as a shock – however we are moving quickly and diligently to get our dad, Chef Riko the care and treatments that he needs while helping he and our mom get these life logistics taken care of.

If you want to send photos or share your favorite memories or stories with him, please send them to me so that we can print them out for his hospital room!

Just know that Chef loves you and appreciates you and wants nothing more than to cook/bake for you again soon! Thank you so much for your consideration and please direct any questions to me while Chef and mom focus on his treatments, doctor visits and most of all, getting him healed.

Mahalo friends!