Edward & Monica Zapata are a loving couple, parents of two young men, who are going through a very difficult time. Edward used to work as a truck driver but about 7 years ago, around 2013, he had an accident on the job. While doing some routine maintenance on the truck, a piece of heavy equipment struck him on the face and caused him to lose an eye. He was left without work for a few years, and when he was finally able to get back to the workforce, he was not able to find a job where he could make a decent income. This is sadly just the beginning of the Zapata’s tragic story. After Edward’s accident, Monica had to become the bread winner of the family. She was working as a travel agent in a small family owned company and the family was barely able to make ends meet. Just when things started looking up and Edward was starting get back to work, Monica got diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in October of 2018. She had started feeling symptoms earlier in the year, but because her small company didn’t provide healthcare benefits, she wasn’t able to get to the doctor for a proper diagnosis. It wasn’t until October when she was able to get the Gold Card, she went to the hospital and they gave her the news. Her stage 4 cancer was inoperable and incurable. The doctors did offer chemotherapy but said her chances of survival were very low because of the advanced stage of the cancer and her immune system was already too weak. She started treatment in a hospital in Dallas to try and improve her immune system and allow the chemo to work better. Unfortunately, after a few months of treatment nothing improved. Not giving up, Monica traveled to her home country of Colombia to try and find any alternative treatments for her cancer. She spent several months there visiting different doctors and hospitals but unfortunately, they all told her the same thing the doctors in Houston had told her. By January of 2019 she started chemo treatments in Houston and although her body was already weak, the doctors had to increase the doses of the chemo because they weren’t seeing any improvement, in fact, after several treatments her cancer had spread. It was now in her stomach as well. By December of 2019 Monica decided to stop her treatments. The high dosages of chemo along with her already weak immune system had taken a toll on her body and her other organs had now started to fail. The doctors also recommended she stop all treatment and have a little “quality of life” during her remaining time, they gave her six months. The Zapata’s have two sons. Jean Paul, 18, who is currently going to college and working at the same time to help Edward with expenses, and Kevin, 15, who is in high school. Both kids have obviously taken this situation very hard with both falling into a depressive state all the while trying to be strong for their mom. Edward has also taken this very hard, but all 3 have committed to being there and support Monica for as long as they can. Although Monica has given up on her treatments, she still has not given up all hope. She is very big on her faith and praying for a miracle from God. I can only imagine the suffering they are going through right now, but having my brother pass away recently from cancer as well, I know from experience what it will be for the family once she is gone. Not only emotionally, but financially as well.
Mauricio, thank you for sharing their story with us.
Comments