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On September 16th, 2014, my dad (Joe Koss) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was devastating news for all of us. By the power of positivity and support, we know that he can push through this, though. We wanted to make him this GoFundMe page to help our parents out as much as we could. Things are going to get very tough financially and any donation will help. Our dad will be taking a leave of absence from work during his radiation and chemotherapy treatments and will need help staying on his feet throughout these tough times.
Cancer is a very scary thing - but we are going to do our best to get him through it! Anyone who knows my dad knows how wonderful of a person he is. He is always smiling, laughing, telling jokes and he has definitely worked hard to make his family happy. This is our way of trying to give him back what he gave us our whole lives. This is our way of doing anything we can to help him out.
I want to thank everyone in advance who makes a donation to this great Koss! Any donation will help my dad on his road to recovery. We appreciate every single penny.
For anyone who wants to know a little bit more about the diagnosis and what has been going on lately, I have written out the story below:
Tuesday - August 5th, 2014
Joe was taken in for a procedure and diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. He was given enough anesthesia for a two hour procedure but they were in and out in 30 minutes. The diagnosis had us all relieved. His wife, Jean, immediately started working on a new diet for him.
Between the dates above and below, Joe would continue to feel sick after meals even though he had changed his diet to accomodate his pancreatitis. It had seemed that nothing was working and Jean continued to research in order to make Joe feel better.
Saturday - September 13th, 2014
Joe was taken to the ER in the evening with excessive itching. Recently diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, we became worried. His billirubin count was elevated. He was admitted to the hospital that night.
Sunday - September 14th, 2014
Cancer became a concern. A CT scan had shown a mass on his pancreas. Joe continued to itch. More tests were done.
Monday - September 15th, 2014
The doctors did a biopsy on the mass to determine whether it was benign or malignant. Instead of leaving the hospital and making an appointment for the following week to find out of the test results of the biopsy, Joe opted to stay in the hospital another night and hope that they could put a rush on the results.
Tuesday - September 16th, 2014
The mass is cancerous but has not spread. The good news was that they thought it may have been a removable tumor at the time.
Wednesday - September 17th, 2014
The doctors took him in for another CT scan.
Thursday - September 18th, 2014
The results from the CT scan came back... the tumor is inoperable at this time and needs to be shrunk before it is removed. The next course of treatment would ultimately be radiation and chemotherapy.
He came home that night. They spent their days planning out their next steps. They saw a nutritionist and spoke to several people about their options. He started taking supplements recommended by the nutritionist.
Tuesday - September 23rd, 2014
Jean rushed Joe back into the ER with violent shivering and eventually a high fever. He was admitted to the hospital again.
The week was greeted with unanswered questions and multiple tests. We have been told that the shivering and fever are attributed to a medication he was on at the time and they have since took him off of it.
Tuesday - September 30th, 2014
Joe was taken in for a procedure to put a port in for the radiation and chemotherapy that is to come. He left the hospital that evening.
Wednesday - October 1st, 2014
Joe's brother, Chris, arrives in Michigan to visit. Joe's port has been inserted and the chemotherapy class has been scheduled. Chemotherapy will begin within the next week.
Tuesday - October 7th, 2014
Chemotherapy was supposed to start but he got a call the day before from his insurance company. They said that the chemotherapy is "experimental" and that they don't cover it. St John hospital is trying to fight this for him.
Thursday - October 9th, 2014
It has been a constant battle with Joe's insurance. They have rejected his chemotherapy treatments suggesting that they will only cover it if the doctors try surgery first. The doctors recommendation is that chemotherapy come first because the mass is too large and the surgery is too high risk. The insurance says that they will not cover chemotherapy first because the tumor is not inoperable and therefore, chemotherapy is simply a preventative surgery and not necessary prior to surgery. They also said that the cancer must be matastasized (therefore, spread) in order for them to approve surgery - the mortality rate for pancreatic cancer that has matastisized is 40%. We are trying to battle the insurance any way that we can.
Friday - October 10th, 2014
Joe went into surgery to remove the previously installed plastic stint that became blocked much quicker than doctors have seen in the past. They have opted for a permanent titanium stint to keep the duct open and bile flowing as best as possible.
For more updates, you can follow me (Courtney Koss) at: http://www.twitter.com/courtneyanna
I do post other things but I have been posting constant updates on my dad there.
Joe's brother, Chris, arrives in Michigan to visit. Joe's port has been inserted and the chemotherapy class has been scheduled. Chemotherapy will begin within the next week.
Tuesday - October 7th, 2014
Chemotherapy was supposed to start but he got a call the day before from his insurance company. They said that the chemotherapy is "experimental" and that they don't cover it. St John hospital is trying to fight this for him.
Thursday - October 9th, 2014
It has been a constant battle with Joe's insurance. They have rejected his chemotherapy treatments suggesting that they will only cover it if the doctors try surgery first. The doctors recommendation is that chemotherapy come first because the mass is too large and the surgery is too high risk. The insurance says that they will not cover chemotherapy first because the tumor is not inoperable and therefore, chemotherapy is simply a preventative surgery and not necessary prior to surgery. They also said that the cancer must be matastasized (therefore, spread) in order for them to approve surgery - the mortality rate for pancreatic cancer that has matastisized is 40%. We are trying to battle the insurance any way that we can.
Friday - October 10th, 2014
Joe went into surgery to remove the previously installed plastic stint that became blocked much quicker than doctors have seen in the past. They have opted for a permanent titanium stint to keep the duct open and bile flowing as best as possible.
For more updates, you can follow me (Courtney Koss) at: http://www.twitter.com/courtneyanna
I do post other things but I have been posting constant updates on my dad there.
Organizer
Courtney Anna Koss
Organizer
Saint Clair Shores, MI
