Well-known 28-year-old Houston realtor, Olatunde Chief Oniya, recently learned he has the rarest and most aggressive form of kidney cancer. Doctors believe it will kill him within one month.
For most facing this kind of strident reality, your loved ones can be by your side through hospitalization, but new restrictions have limited visitations to nearly all patients.
Oniya, who is now a cancer patient at Lyndon B. Johnson hospital, is unable to have any visitors at all. He has relied solely on FaceTime to connect with his loved ones.
"Not a second goes by that I don't wish I had someone here next to me for emotional and physical support," he said.
The young father lived a seemingly healthy and active life just up until weeks ago.
"At the age of 28, I'm writing my will," he told ABC13 via FaceTime from his hospital bed.
The diagnosis came after months of symptoms that were mistaken for everything but cancer.
"I thought it was muscle spasms, so I went to an orthopedic surgeon. I had a hard time breathing. I thought it was because of high blood pressure," said Oniya.
What he didn't know was that the cancer was spreading to all of his organs, including his heart and lungs.
Oniya was admitted to the hospital in early March after he came in with shortness of breath. Doctors initially thought it could be COVID-19.
"I tested negative for coronavirus 3 times," Oniya said.
He spent days in isolation as his health declined. Oniya learned Saturday that he has stage 4 Chromophobe Type Renal Carcinoma.
Doctors believe immune-therapy or an oral medication could buy him more time to live.
His family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the treatment and hospital bills.