Support Ruben (Trifecta) Ortiz in Their Cancer Battle

Hello my old friends, family and new friends. First, I want to say that this is a very hard thing for me to do as I have always been very self-reliant. But I feel God is moving me in this direction and that it is OK to ask my friends and family for a little help when things get tough.

My road to recovery began on October 21, 2021, when I was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer that had already metastasized to both my lungs. I was assigned to an Oncologist at Kaiser and after a CT scan with contrast and a MRI guided probe to remove a sample (the biopsy showed the lung cancer was associated to the colon cancer) we began a long and hard regiment consisting of 12 sessions of chemotherapy (24 weeks).

At first, the treatments seemed to work, and the tumors began shrinking. However, as it is with most chemotherapy, the side effects began worsening and other problems began to pop up. From headaches, to upset stomach, Neuropathy in my hands and feet, hair loss, vision problems that resulted in a separated retina (this required emergency laser surgery), and low immunity (keep in mind that this whole thing was during the COVID season.) the decision was made to change the drugs in an effort to lessen the damage to my eyes and continue to shrink the tumors.

The second round was in the form of a pill but this proved to be mostly ineffective, and I was scheduled for a third round of more traditional, yet a little bit stronger, chemotherapy. We began the third round, which consisted of 12 more sessions for 24 weeks.

Towards the end of the third treatment, it was evident that the tumors in my lungs were not responding well and were getting bigger. The option of surgery was discussed, and we met with a lung surgeon who was confident he could remove the lung nodules. Surgery was scheduled in May of 2024 to remove one nodule from each lung. This was to be followed by a second surgery to remove a section of my colon. This would then be followed by a 4th round of chemotherapy.

A colonoscopy was performed in July of 2024 and to our delight we were told that they were not able to find any cancer in my colon and there was no need for surgery (PTL!!) However, something was causing me stress and I ended up in the emergency room with shortness of breath and chest pain. They performed an Echocardiogram and found I had another nodule in my lung. This tumor was too close to some major blood vessels, so surgery was not an option. My oncologist put me on yet another round of Chemo and referred me to a radiologist who said he may be able to kill the tumor with radiation.

After several sessions of radiation, I had a PET scan that showed the first tumor that was radiated had shrunk but, yet another nodule was found, and a second round of radiation was scheduled. After the second round of radiation, we were hopeful we had finally got it all. However, that was not the case. A follow-up PET scan revealed two more nodules had appeared in the lungs as well as lesions on two ribs, two vertebrae, the left adrenal gland and my breastbone. Eight tumors in all.

My Kaiser oncologist was at loss and said she could only offer me one final course of action, but it would be the last attempt to control the spread. I asked her what the rate of success was with this “last” resort drug, and she estimated it to be about 20%. Add to this that the chemo medicine she recommended has severe adverse reactions, worse than all the prior treatments. At this point we had severe reservations and had lost all confidence in this oncologist and in Kaiser. We decided to seek a second opinion.

Enter Dr. Virginia Von Schaefer, an integrative oncologist who is considered by many to be the leading interactive oncologist in the nation and she practices about 50 miles from my house in San Clemente. We spoke to a couple of her past patients and discovered Dr. V, as she is known, had a very good success rate in curing cancer patients that other doctors had given up on. We made an appointment, and she was confident she could help. The only problem is she does not take insurance, and we only had Kaiser (who, by the way, refused to help if we decided to work with a doctor outside their network). This left us out on our own, but we also felt in our hearts that Dr. V. was our best shot at recovery.

The treatments with Dr. V. are intensive and every day. (which means I had to go onto disability as I am unable to work at this time, adding to our financial burden). Dr. V. has a special set of protocols that are based on science and past success in treating cancer. Treatments are every day. She treats the whole body, not just the cancer, with special techniques to entice the cancer to “eat” the chemo while reinforcing your metabolism, immunity and strength. However, the treatments are very expensive. We knew it would be tough, but we decided to use our savings to try and see how far we could get in hopes the money would not run out…

At a rate of about $12,000 per week, we are depleting our savings very fast and are about to run out. This brings me to this action of reaching out to our friends and family for some help. Also, there is a secondary treatment called Brakey Therapy that I need to get. This is administered by a second Radiologist/Oncologist that is adding to the overall cost. We have no estimate yet, but my best guess is that we will need between $100,000 and $200,000 more to complete the treatment.

I should add at this point we feel confident the treatments are working and I can feel not just relief, but also some improvements in movement and less pain.

If you can help with any amount, we would be very grateful. Additionally, regardless of what amount you can contribute, if you can do me a favor and share my story with a few of your friends and family and encourage them to please pray, share, and give a couple of dollars, this would be tremendous help, more than you can imagine.

Above everything else, we covet your prayers. We firmly believe that God has this under control. I don’t know what the future holds but I know God holds my future. I believe He is providing the way and will also provide the resources one way or another.

Thank you!