My name is Seth Seno and I’d like to tell you about one of the strongest women I know, my stepmom, Loida.
Back in April of this year she started complaining about her head always hurting and little by little she started forgetting things.
Her friends, doctor Vivian and Neil Lumapas advised her to see a specialist.
She was diagnosed with brain cancer and they also found that it had already spread to her lungs.
She’s had surgery on her brain to get the tumors out already and she is currently going through radiation therapy and taking medication for her lung cancer.
Before all this my stepmom worked to help my dad provide for my two little sisters, Raffy and Rianne, barely getting by. Raffy is currently in college with help from my dad’s boss, Mr. Pete Interian, and Rianne will be starting high school this coming fall.
But she has stopped working since her diagnosis leaving only my dad to provide for the whole family.
My dad has been missing days from work to drive my stepmom to her many appointments and staying with her in the hospital as soon as they allowed guests to come in when she was admitted.
We are a proud family coming from a poor country where people are not accustomed to asking for help.
But now we realize that we can not do this on our own, my dad specifically (as I am now back living in Philippines).
Her insurance has stopped covering her medication and therapy expenses and my dad’s salary simply isn’t enough to keep up with everything on top of existing debts.
I call her my stepmom out of respect for my real mother, but she has been there for me since I was eight years old. She stepped up when my biological mother failed to and she has given me unconditional love, embracing me as her own. Because of her I will never know how it feels not to have a mother growing up.
So now I feel hopeless. I’m hopeless because I can’t do anything to help them financially.
I am now swallowing every bit of my pride to ask for your help. I’m asking you to please help us keep our family together a while longer. Give us hope to keep going and not give up just yet.
I know times are tough with the pandemic but every bit helps. If you can’t help financially then just keep her in your prayers. She deserves to see her young daughters fulfill their dreams.
She’ll always be a super woman in my eyes and I know she is doing her best to keep fighting.
