Help My Dad Fight Cancer
Donation protected
On March 26, 2016 my world was rocked tremendously. The second I heard my phone ring at 4am in the early Saturday morning hours before Easter Sunday I recognized my stepmom as the caller, and my heart sank. I knew something must be horribly wrong to be receiving this phone call, and I was right. My 49-year-old father had gone to the Emergency Room earlier that night for abdominal pain. The same abdominal pain that brought him to the ER just days prior when he had provided blood and urine samples, was told he had a stomach bug, and was discharged home. This time the ER doctors decided to do an abdominal cat scan and the results were shocking to say the least. As I tried to make out what my stepmom Anita was telling me through her cries I heard only 3 words….”Stage Four Cancer”.
The CT scan discovered a large mass at the end of my dads colon that was pushing on his appendix causing appendicitis, which is what caused the pain he had been feeling for several days. His cat scan also showed several lesions on both lungs as well as surrounding lymph nodes. Because of the location of this mass he needed surgery ASAP as his appendix was now at high risk for rupture. I frantically gathered myself and Ryan and I drove the 2 hours to Rome, NY hoping to be able to see him before he went into surgery. We made it in time and my dad was taken into the operating room later that day. The surgeon opened his abdomen to perform an exploratory surgery to assess how far the cancer had spread. He removed his appendix, the entire right side of his colon where his tumor had grown, and biopsied 25 of the surrounding lymph nodes that looked suspicious for metastasis. After a weeklong stay in the hospital my dad was discharged home to recover and become strong for upcoming extensive chemotherapy to fight off the cancer that had now taken over his body.
More tests were performed once he had healed and it was discovered that the cancer was in 20 of the 25 lymph nodes taken during surgery, numerous places in both lungs as the cat scan had suggested, as well as traveling to lymph nodes in his neck. While I am and will be forever grateful to the local surgeon who performed my dads surgery, I had little faith in his small town to treat his cancer. I knew my dad must come to Rochester for treatment, not only for the more advanced technologies and options in cancer treatment but also because he would be able to stay under the watchful eye of me, his daughter who also happens to be a registered nurse.
This plan has recently been put into motion and my dad just successfully completed his first round of chemo which consists of a 5 hour infusion at the cancer center, followed by a 46 hour continuous infusion that he is sent home with (back to our house) that provides a constant flow of chemotherapy into his system. He will require this regimen every two weeks for the next 4-6 months which will quicly become expensive on top of all of his regular bills. My stepmom has always been and continues to be the greatest thing to ever happen to my father. She cares for him in a way that I cannot express how thankful I am for that. However, my stepmom is disabled and has not worked in the last few years due to her physical disability. My dad, who is self employed has been the sole breadwinner for the last several years and now that he is ill all of their income has come to a screeching halt. I do not want my dad to have to worry about a single thing right now except his health. I do not want him to have any stress about paying the mortgage, car payment, copayments for medical bills, medications, groceries, travel costs to and from Rochester for treatment, etc. The list goes on and on.
For all of you who have asked me in the last 2 months what you can do for me I have two things to ask of you. Number 1: please share this post with all of your family, friends, acquaintances, etc. The more people who read this, the more I will be able to relieve at least some bit of stress for my dad so that he will not have to worry about finances during this difficult time. Number 2: please donate if you can. Anything will help and it is appreciated more than you know. Thank you so very much.
The CT scan discovered a large mass at the end of my dads colon that was pushing on his appendix causing appendicitis, which is what caused the pain he had been feeling for several days. His cat scan also showed several lesions on both lungs as well as surrounding lymph nodes. Because of the location of this mass he needed surgery ASAP as his appendix was now at high risk for rupture. I frantically gathered myself and Ryan and I drove the 2 hours to Rome, NY hoping to be able to see him before he went into surgery. We made it in time and my dad was taken into the operating room later that day. The surgeon opened his abdomen to perform an exploratory surgery to assess how far the cancer had spread. He removed his appendix, the entire right side of his colon where his tumor had grown, and biopsied 25 of the surrounding lymph nodes that looked suspicious for metastasis. After a weeklong stay in the hospital my dad was discharged home to recover and become strong for upcoming extensive chemotherapy to fight off the cancer that had now taken over his body.
More tests were performed once he had healed and it was discovered that the cancer was in 20 of the 25 lymph nodes taken during surgery, numerous places in both lungs as the cat scan had suggested, as well as traveling to lymph nodes in his neck. While I am and will be forever grateful to the local surgeon who performed my dads surgery, I had little faith in his small town to treat his cancer. I knew my dad must come to Rochester for treatment, not only for the more advanced technologies and options in cancer treatment but also because he would be able to stay under the watchful eye of me, his daughter who also happens to be a registered nurse.
This plan has recently been put into motion and my dad just successfully completed his first round of chemo which consists of a 5 hour infusion at the cancer center, followed by a 46 hour continuous infusion that he is sent home with (back to our house) that provides a constant flow of chemotherapy into his system. He will require this regimen every two weeks for the next 4-6 months which will quicly become expensive on top of all of his regular bills. My stepmom has always been and continues to be the greatest thing to ever happen to my father. She cares for him in a way that I cannot express how thankful I am for that. However, my stepmom is disabled and has not worked in the last few years due to her physical disability. My dad, who is self employed has been the sole breadwinner for the last several years and now that he is ill all of their income has come to a screeching halt. I do not want my dad to have to worry about a single thing right now except his health. I do not want him to have any stress about paying the mortgage, car payment, copayments for medical bills, medications, groceries, travel costs to and from Rochester for treatment, etc. The list goes on and on.
For all of you who have asked me in the last 2 months what you can do for me I have two things to ask of you. Number 1: please share this post with all of your family, friends, acquaintances, etc. The more people who read this, the more I will be able to relieve at least some bit of stress for my dad so that he will not have to worry about finances during this difficult time. Number 2: please donate if you can. Anything will help and it is appreciated more than you know. Thank you so very much.
Organizer and beneficiary
Tayler Moonan
Organizer
Pittsford, NY
Thomas Moonan
Beneficiary
Inspired to help? Start a fundraiser for someone you know
