Help Support April's Journey With Stage 4 Stomach Cancer
When April was diagnosed with incurable stage four stomach cancer in May 2022, our small Host Agency Reviews fam was gutted. We still are, and always will be. Our hearts hurt for April, her two kids Christopher and Julia, her stepson Jacob, her husband Nelson, and her entire tight-knit family.
When April was diagnosed with incurable stage four stomach cancer in May 2020, the Host Agency Reviews fam was gutted.
Will you help us support her?
If you've never met HAR's Marketing Manager April Oliveira you're missing out.
April started working with host agency reviews in 2020, but it feels like she's been a part of the HAR family forever. Why? Because April makes a wicked-fast impression. She's a self-proclaimed "Mass-hole" with a wicked sense of humor, a super-hero-parent to her six-year-old son, teenage daughter, and stepson1, a creative extraordinaire (she just won first place in Middleborough's trunk-or-treat decoration competition), and someone with enough energy and enthusiasm to power an entire metropolis. April jokes about how short she is, but you wouldn't know it because her personality is huge and it's fantastic.
For me and Steph here at Host Agency Reviews, she is a sister as much as she's our colleague. In addition to being a no-brainer hire who's bursting with ideas and burning on all 12 cylinders2 (no poaching!), she has the biggest most caring and generous heart a human body can possibly hold. She's the kind of person who, as soon as you walk into her house, you're family no matter who you are. She's always there with support, a word of encouragement, and the biggest hug a person who towers at 5'1" can possibly give.
It's our turn to support April. Will you help us?
April is the kind of person who is generous in lending support, but extremely hesitant to ask for it.
April's friend set up a GoFundMe and a Meal Train so her family can have more time to focus on April's health and their family.
Recently, April's doctor encouraged her to stop working so she can focus on her health and her family. As unending medical bills pile up, and family responsibilities mount as April navigates her new reality with stomach cancer, we want to help create a pathway for April to work less, rest more, and enjoy her good days with her family instead of working and doing dirty dishes.
Will you contribute to April's GoFundMe or set her family up with a meal via Meal Train?
We want to go big with support—bigger than her huge personality—to make this possible for her! We want to break Meal the Train and GoFundMe websites with an outpouring of love for April, so we're asking our travel industry friends (yes you!) to lend support in any way you're able . . . whether it's $5 or $500 to her GoFundMe, a DoorDash gift card, or a home-cooked meal.
A Little Bit About April's Stage 4 Stomach Cancer Diagnosis
In order to manage the spread of her cancer, April will be on chemo every other week for the rest of her life. When April has treatments, she is on her chemo drip three days out of the week. Treatments are physically and emotionally exhausting for April and her entire family. When she completes her days-long treatments, she spends the rest of her week recovering, and after a few better days begins the cycle of chemo treatments again.
April is the kind of person who is generous in lending support, but extremely hesitant to ask for it. Anything you can do to help April with her GoFundMe or Meal Train is a huge support and extremely appreciated.
If you're not able to contribute financially, spreading the word to others goes a long way too!
Please share this article on Facebook or your favorite social media outlet du jour. As April's husband said on her GoFundMe page, "April is in the fight for her life, for the rest of her life" and we want to show up for her in a big way.
Signs to Look for with Stomach Cancer & Where to Learn More
April was blindsided by her diagnosis. Stomach cancer is a disease that spreads slowly and can go undetected for years. With April, she didn't have any known risk factors that are more common to the diagnosis. Even as stomach cancer advances, its symptoms, such as feeling full or bloated when you eat even small amounts of food, indigestion, heartburn, stomach pain, fatigue, or loss of appetite3, are easy to ignore or misdiagnose.
You can find learn more about stomach cancer symptoms here.
Footnotes
- April's the one with dinner in the crockpot at 6 am who'll work a full day, get that dinner on the table, then make it to the front row to holler at the ref when he misses calling obvious siren-blaring-level-obvious fouls against her daughter and has her house tidied up after she gets her 6yo to bed. #lifegoals ↩
- I had to Google it and yes, cars can have that many cylinders, but April really has about 10 times more ↩
- Not a complete list! ↩
About the Author
Mary Stein
Mary Stein has been working as a writer and editor for Host Agency Reviews since 2016. She loves supporting travel advisors on their entrepreneurial journey and is inspired by their passion, tenacity, and creativity. Mary is also a mom, dog lover, fiction writer, hiker, and a Great British Bake Off superfan.
