I met Issay Tanabe when I was just starting my work in mom events and she was doing a feature story for Baby Magazine. She was very warm and made me feel comfortable as we were doing an interview and photo shoot at the same time. Issay was one of the first photographers I met then who was focused on child and family photography. She and her equally talented hubby, Doods are owners of their studio, Real Kids Photography. Years later, Doods also shot a few covers for our Urban Mom freezine, one of them was our shoot with Mylene Dizon. https://www.flickr.com/photos/juicevillanueva/12766661773/player/64be3d052e Mylene Dizon, Photography by Doods Tanabe

Though we would only talk and see each other when there were projects, Issay and Doods always struck me as a happy couple, united in their faith, super hands-on and doting parents to their 3 girls, and even if I never saw them at work together, seeing their sweet FB posts and photos showed clearly they made a good team.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/juicevillanueva/12766522045/player/739d5f08eb Photo from Issay’s Facebook page

Around May 2012, it was a shock to receive news about Issay’s diagnosis of breast cancer. After being given a stage 3A diagnosis, she was made to undergo surgery, 8 cycles of aggressive chemotherapy and 28 radio frequency sessions. Their friends like Daphne Osena-Paez rallied behind Issay and organized a successful event at The Blue Leaf which also helped subsidize treatments.

After being pronounced cancer-free in April 2013. She happily resumed her life. But fate had other plans for her. The passionate and loving woman Issay is back on that same journey.

In October 2013, the family was told that the cancer had returned and metastasized (spread) to other parts of her body — the skin on the original site and right neck lymph nodes. All too soon, she was again required to go through another round of chemotherapy treatments, more frequent than the last time. In the course of this second round of chemotherapy sessions, the doctors have discovered new growths in her left breast and left axilla (armpit).

As of this writing, Issay is back in the hospital and has just undergone under the knife last February 21 for a double mastectomy. This very costly procedure is needed to take away all of the affected skin on the original site of the breast cancer, plus the newly-found mass on the other breast. She is set to resume chemotherapy treatments to make sure the spread is addressed and stopped.

Through it all, Doods has been an inspiration and a faithful motivator for Issay, his family and their community. He has been at the side of Issay and has started a Facebook page to try and get help from friends and kind strangers, to raise funds for all of these procedures and further treatments that Issay badly requires to overcome this new, unexpected and more challenging hurdle. They have exhausted all means, including approaching the PCSO, from which they received just P10,000 in 2012 and P15,000 in February this year.

The target amount to be raised for the surgeries alone is P1M.

Mommy Mundo’s MOMSHARE fund was created for needs such as this- to help and support our fellow moms in need, and other causes. This fund comes from donations from moms in the Mommy Mundo community, as well as through all registration fees coming from the two major events that we hold. Thanks to YOUR help, Momshare has also been able to contribute a bit of help to Issay and Doods, but this is not enough.

In this regard, we would like to ask for your help for Issay and Doods through any or all of the following:

1) Please LIKE the Facebook page I SUPPORT ISSAY- CANCER FIGHTER, WIFE, MOM and share it on your Facebook wall and social media accounts

2) You may also share this post and spread the word about this urgent need.

3) Please help by donating funds. Donations may be deposited directly to Doods Tanabe’s account. Details below:

Felizardo Tanabe II Bank of the Philippine Island (BPI) savings account no. 1926072962 If you would like to get in touch with Doods directly, his mobile number is 09326549221

For other information or ideas on how we can get more support for Issay, please drop us an email at momshare@mommymundo.com or text me at 09189300313.

Thank you and God bless you!

-Janice

P.S. Thank you to my friend and fellow SoMom, Patty Balquiedra of nonstopbabble.com who wrote most of the text above on Issay’s breast cancer journey. Patty is herself a strong and beautiful cancer fighter and advocate. Thank you Patty!