Message from Carlos : treatment started

(see below for text in english)

Fomos nos hospital hoje para ultimas avaliacoes e resumo do que vira nos proximos dias. Confesso que agora caiu a ficha da complexidade do processo e dos riscos. Em outras palavras, estou todo cagado de medo (perdao pela expressao). Fiquei com frio e tremendo soh para as primeiras injecoes. Acho que era mais pelo marco do comeco de um processo durissimo, do que as injecoes em si, que nao sao nada doloridas. Agora a noite comeco a sentir dores decorrentes da medicacao. Os ossos doem porque estao produzindo celulas em excesso. Esse processo leva 4 dias e depois fazemos a coleta dessas celulas num aparelho que parece de emodialise, onde todo o sangue eh passado, ficando as celulas que serao congeladas. Sao dois dias coletando celulas, num processo que dura umas 5 horas. Depois disso, proxima quarta feira, comeca a quimio.

Aproveitei para ficar a tarde com a Julia. Ela eh a minha maior fonte de inspiracao e forca. Adoro ve-la crescer, acompanhar cada passo, cada palavra nova. Agora ela comeca a misturar algumas palavras em ingles. Incrivel como as criancas sao perspicazes e percebem a situacao ao redor. Ao chegarmos ao hospital esta manha, Julia me olhou no olho e disse “papai dodoi”. Essa eh a parte mais dificil de tudo isso.

Beijos pra todos.

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Today, we went to the hospital for last tests and explaination on what is next. I must confess that I understood only now the complexity of the process and the risks. I am really scared. I was cold and shaking for the first injections. I think it was more because it is the beginning of a tough process than because of the injections themselves, which are not painfull at all. Tonight I started feeling pain due to the medication. Bones are hurting because they are producing much more cells. This process takes 4 days, then they do the cells collection. All the blood goes through a machine that separates cells, that will be frozen. It takes about 2 days to collect the cells, each day is about 5 hours. After that, on next wednesday, I will start the chemo.

I spent time with Julia in the afternoon. She is my biggest source of inspiration and force. I love to see her growing up, to watch every step, every new word. She is now starting to mix some english words with portuguese. It is amazing how children are perspicacious and aware of what is going on. When we got to the hospital this morning, she looked at me straight in the eyes and said "daddy sick". That is the most difficult part.

Schedule of the treatment - next days

14/5 : Begin Neupogen Injections 960 mcg SQ daily
15/5 : Neupogem Injections 960 mcg SQ daily
16/5 : Neupogem Injections 960 mcg SQ daily
17/5 : Neupogem Injections 960 mcg SQ daily
18/5 : Catheter placement/Stem Cell Harvest
19/5 : Stem Cell Harvest 2nd day (if needed)
20/5 : Start Chemoterapy

AINDA PRECISAMOS DA SUA AJUDA !! / WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP !!

Queridos amigos,

Gracas a todos voces, arrecadamos em praticamente uma semana: USD $81,115.
Um verdadeiro exemplo de uniao, amizade e compaixao pelo proximo.
Obrigada a todos por pelos telefonemas, e-mails, networking, etc.

AINDA FALTAM: USD 218,885.
A nossa campanha para o Carlos continua com forca total.

*****************************************************************
Dear Friends,

Thanks to all of you, we could get, in 1 week time, 81,115 USD.
This is a true example of union, friendship, compassion.
Thank you for your calls, emails, netwoking, events, etc.

We still need 218,885 USD.
Let's continue with all our energy this wonderful fund raising campaign for Carlos.

News from Carlos : Dr Einhorn and the hospital

Noticias do Carlos: Dr Einhorn e o hospital
(see below for english)

Hoje visitei o hospital, e tive uma consulta com Dr Einhorn, a maior autoridade no assunto (cancer germinativo). O consultorio era exatamente como imaginava, tinha a camisa do Lance enquadrada e autografada, varias fotos dele, reportagens de revistas e dedicatorias dele para o hospital. Quase todos os pacientes e medicos usam o bracelete amarelo do “Live Strong”. As enfermeiras muito atenciosas e simpaticas, enfim, me senti em casa.

Dr Einhorn fisicamente lembra o Woody Allen, beirando os 70 mas muito simpatico e atencioso. Fiquei muito feliz com a consulta e esperancoso, eles sao os pioneiros nesse tratamento e tem feito ajustes nos ultimos anos com base as estatisticas e novas pesquisas. Por exemplo, alem das duas quimios (que sao 5 vezes mais forte que uma quimio normal), ficarei tomando uma quimio via oral durante dois meses, algo que melhora as chances de cura.

Logico sera durissimo, mas estou preparado e com energia para comecar isso logo. Acho que deve ser a corrente de todo o mundo que me passa forca. Amanha mudamos para um apartamento, espero que a Julia comece a ter uma rotina porque ela sente falta disso.

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Today I visited the hospital, and I had a consultation with Dr Einhorn, the best in this area (germinative cancer). His office is as I imagined it : Lance Armstrong's T-shirt (signed by himself) in a frame, many pictures of him, magazine reports, and his dedications to the hospital. Almost all the patients and doctors use the yellow bracelet "Live Strong". The nurses ate nice and attentive, I felt like home.

Dr Einhorn physically reminds me Woody Allen, almost 70 and very friendly and attentive. I felt really happy and hopeful after the consultation. They are pioneer in this treatment and have worked on adjustments in the past few years based on statistics and new research. For example, in addition to the 2 chemo (5 times stronger than the normal chemo), I will also take an oral chemo for 2 months, to increase the chances of recovery.

Of course this will be hard, but I am prepared to start it soon. I think this is due to the chain of you all that gives me energy. Tomorrow we will move to an appartement, I hope Julia will have her routine back, I think she miss it.

Message from Carlos : listen to your body

Mensagem do Carlos: escutar o seu corpo (see below for english)

Devemos escutar o nosso corpo sempre. Nao cometer o erro que cometi de nao consultar um medico no momento em que estava sentindo dor. Fiquei meses com dor nas costas, e nenhum outro sintoma. Temos que ter sempre em mente que dor nao eh normal, qualquer uma que for, precisamos tentar descobrir a causa. Logico que os medicos nao esperam que um jovem saudavel sem historico de doenca possa ter cancer. Eu sequer cogitava essa possillidade, eu sempre associava minha dor a pratica do esporte, e por isso consultava erroneamente ortopedistas, quando o correto teria sido ver um medico geral para fazer bateria de exames. Somente descobri num estagio avancado, quando tinha metastase ja no pulmao, que se manifestou pela tosse com sangue.

Se eu tivesse mais informacao, se soubesse quais os tipos de sintomas, eu teria evitado muito do que passei. Logico que nao devemos virar hipocondriacos e ir ao medico a cada momento que tivermos algum sintoma, como meu oncologista diz, temos que ter um bom senso. Se tiver uma dor atipica, persistente por varias semanas, entao eh o caso de consultar um medico.

***********************************************************

We should always listen to our bodies. Don't make the mistake I made to nao see a doctor when I was feeling pain. I had a back pain for months. That was my only symptom. We should always keep in mind that pain is not normal. We need to find out where does it come from. Of course, doctors don't expect a young and healthy guy with no disease record to have cancer. And I didn't even thought this was a possibility, I thought this back pain was due to practice of sports, so I consulted orthopedists, when the correct thing to do was consult a General Practitioner who would have done many exams. I only discovered the disease at an advanced stage, when there was metastasis in the lungs, when I coughed up blood.

If I had more information at that time, if I knew what are the symptoms, I would have avoided a lot that I have been through. Of course we don't have to become hypochondriac and see a doctor each time we feel one symptom, but like my oncologist says, we need to have common sense. If you feel an atypical pain for many weeks, you should see your doctor.

PRECISAMOS DA SUA AJUDA !!

Text in English below

Essa é a historia no do nosso querido amigo Carlos, um verdadeiro e corajoso lutador.

Carlos e a sua esposa Cibele estavam morando em Hong Kong desde 2002, onde ele trabalhava com importaçao de couro. Nesses 7 ultimos anos, o Carlos criou amizades fortes com a comunidade brasileira de là, trazendo sua alegria de viver, seu sorriso, seu companheirismo. Cheio de energia e otimismo por natureza, ele inspirou muitos de nos com o equilibrio que ele vivia entre trabalhar duro e se envolver com a comunidade local, jogando futebol num time amador.

Foi um choque muito grande para todos nos quando, numa viagem ao Brasil, ele foi diagnosticado com cancer, quando a sua esposa Cibele estava gravida do primeiro filho. Na epoca, ele so estava com 33 anos.

Depois de um ano muito dificil, com multiplas sessoes de quimioterapia e quatro cirurgias no Brasil, onde tumores foram retiradas do seu corpo e cerebro, ele foi testado “limpo” em janeiro de 2009.

Naquele momento, todos nos festejamos a boa noticia, pensando que as nossas preces tinham sido ouvidas. Carlos e Cibele, junto com a filhinha Julia de 20 meses, decidiram voltar para Hong Kong para rever os amigos e reconstruir uma vida. Mas semana passada, o final feliz que todos imaginavamos ja nao era mais. Depois de um controle de rotina, ele descobriu que o cancer tinha voltado, e que o unico jeito de viver era ir para os EUA para seguir um tratamento ainda mais forte chamado high dose chemotherapy with bone marrow transplant, tratamento que so se pode fazer com muita segurança num hospital especializado em Indianapolis.

O maior problema agora é que o seguro de saude dele nao cobre a hospitalizaçao nos EUA. O hospital esta pedindo um deposito antecipado de 300,000 USD para começar o tratamento. Decidimos abrir uma conta bancaria e pedir ajuda de amigos, familha, mas tambem qualquer pessoa que sente dentro de si que quer ajudar. Por favor façam um deposito de qualquer valor, pois eles nao tem dinheiro suficiente para começar esse tratamento. Precisamos levantar o maximo possivel para ajudar essa familha linda nesse momento tao dificil.

Ele tem que começar o tratamento em 1 semana, porque o cancer voltou de um jeito ainda mais agressivo, nao podemos perder mais tempo. Pedimos a todos aqueles que querem ajudar para transferir os fundos urgentemente.

Os detalhes da conta bancaria são os seguintes (no Brasil) :
Banco HSBC
Cibele Regina Berbigier Zanotto Sales
CPF: 885760190-00
Agencia: 0252
Conta: 26071-16

Em funcao do dinheiro que conseguirmos, estaremos fazendo um primeiro pagamento no final dessa semana.

Por favor ajudem esse verdadeiro lutador a ganhar essa batalha contra o cancer. Ajudem ele a viver para que possa criar a sua filha, para que possa envelhecer junto com a sua familia.

Deus os abencoe.

Todos os fundos arrecadados serao para o pagamento do hospital e das despesas medicas do tratamento do cancer do Carlos. Caso o valor conseguido seja maior que as despesas, o saldo sera doado para fundacoes de luta contra o cancer.

WE NEED YOUR HELP !!

This is a story about our friend Carlos Sales, a true and brave warrior.

Carlos and his wife Cibele are long time Hong Kong residents, having moved here in 2002 to work in a trading company.

Over the last seven years here, we were all blessed with Carlos' friendship, and his ability to always bring a smile to your face with his fun, cheerful, and outgoing personality. With incredible energy and optimism for the future, he inspired us to make the best of the opportunities that living in Hong Kong provides us all, working hard on his business, while being strongly linked to the community through his involvement in Hong Kong's amateur football leagues.

So it was an absolute shock to us all when we were first told that he had been diagnosed with cancer on a trip home, where his wife Cibele was due to have their first child. He was only 33 years old at the time.

After an incredibly difficult year, with multiple sessions of chemotherapy and four operations in Brazil, where cancerous growths were removed from his body and his brain, he was tested “clear” in January 2009.

We all celebrated at the time, and believed everyone's prayers had been answered. With a clean bill of health, he and his wife Cibele, together with their 20 month old daughter Julia, returned to HK and started to rebuild their life.

But just this week, the happy ending we had all imagined is no longer. After a routine check, there has been a cruel twist to Carlos’ long battle against cancer.

Sadly, in what should have been a routine check, he discovered that the cancer is back, and that the only way to save his life is to go to the U.S., and undergo a high dose chemotherapy program with a bone marrow transplant, a procedure that is available in a specialized hospital in Indianapolis.

The problem is that their insurance doesn’t cover the U.S. hospitalization, and the hospital is asking for USD 300,000 in cash to start the treatment.

We have decided to open a bank account, and reach out for help to friends and family, but also to all kind souls that want to help. Please make a deposit of any amount, since they do not have the funds necessary for all the treatment. We need to raise as much as possible to help this young family in this incredibly difficult time.

He has to start the treatment in 2 weeks as the cancer has returned in an even more aggressive form, so the timing is critical. We ask all those who can find it in their heart to contribute to transfer funds URGENTLY.

The details of the account are as follows:

IN HONG KONG:
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK (HK) LTD
SWIFT CODE: SCBLHKHHXXX
BANK ADDRESS: SHOP P9, TELFORD CENTRE, TELFORD GDNS, TAI YIP STREET, HONG KONG
BANK CODE: 003
FOR USD DEPOSIT A/C: 31320450134
FOR HKD DEPOSIT A/C: 31300144674
A/C NAME: COBAS SALES CARLOS MARCELL & CIBELE REGINA BERBIGER ZANOTTO

HSBC BANK
SWIFT: HSBCHKHHHKH
FOR USD OR HKD DEPOSIT
A/C: 083-485730-833
A/C NAME: COBAS SALES CARLOS MARCELL

IN BRAZIL:
Banco HSBC
Cibele Regina Berbigier Zanotto Sales
CPF: 885760190-00
Agencia: 0252
Conta: 26071-16

Depending on the amount we are able to raise, we will be transferring a first remittance to the hospital before the end of this week. 

Please help this true warrior win his battle with cancer, and help him stay alive so he can raise
his daughter, and be able to grow old alongside his loving family.

May God bless you and your family.

All the donated money will be used exclusively for hospital and medical bills related to the treatment for
Carlos Sales. In case the donation amount exceeds the expenses, the balance will be donated to cancer
foundations.