Martin Child: The Fight of his Life
Donation protected
On September 8th 2015 my dad was diagnosed with what doctors thought was testicular cancer. The tumour was removed on September 9th; just over a week before he was due to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day...
My dad is an amazing man and words don't begin to describe how much I love him. At the age of 33 he was left to raise my 2 older brothers and I as a single parent. He put everything he had into bringing us up and making sure we never went without and that we had a secure and happy life. He has been our dad, our mum and our best friend and now we face the very real fear of losing him.
Unfortunately the cancer that the doctor thought was testicular cancer turned out to be poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma, a very rare and aggressive cancer, which we discovered in January has spread to the lymph nodes in his abdomen. We received this news the day after I had completed a stem cell donation to try and save a strangers life that’s suffering with blood cancer...
My dad’s oncologist in the UK told us that he has months to live and that there was nothing that could be done for him other than chemotherapy to try and hold the cancer back. We were told to come back in 2 weeks to discuss the chemotherapy. 2 weeks sounded like 2 weeks wasted to me when I had just been told that my dad would die within months, and so the real fight began....
I researched doctors specialising in this type of cancer and found Dr Granberg, a top specialist at Uppsala in Sweden. He responded to my email requesting help within 30 minutes and within days we flew out for a consultation with him.
Under Dr Granberg’s care my dad has received 3 rounds of chemotherapy and is fighting with everything he has. At his last consultation (Monday 21st March 2016) we received the good news that they do not think the cancer has spread further yet and that the chemo has shrunk the tumours. Unfortunately this type of cancer quickly becomes chemo resistant and now my dad needs 6 weeks of radiotherapy to try and get rid of this cancer for good!! (Something that wouldn't be an option in the UK). Dr Granberg has said this is his one chance to get rid of it and that we have got to hit it as hard as we can. It is so aggressive that if we don't then my dad will die, and soon.
The cost of this treatment isn't cheap and my dad now faces 6 weeks of radiotherapy in Sweden. We're in the process of finding him an apartment to rent for the time he will be there but we really need help funding his treatment and living costs.
All his life my dad has given to others and I really thought that now would be the time he could relax and enjoy life and focus on himself. At the rate we are going, if he can beat this horrendous disease he won't have any money left to live! I can't put into words how much your donation would mean to us - big or small, we would be eternally grateful. My dad is on track for the fight of his life and taking away the pressure of the financial strain would give him more energy to focus on the fight ahead. If I could physically fight this cancer for him then without a doubt I would, but life doesn't work that way. So this is me fighting on his behalf, and asking you to fight with us.
Tara xx
My dad is an amazing man and words don't begin to describe how much I love him. At the age of 33 he was left to raise my 2 older brothers and I as a single parent. He put everything he had into bringing us up and making sure we never went without and that we had a secure and happy life. He has been our dad, our mum and our best friend and now we face the very real fear of losing him.
Unfortunately the cancer that the doctor thought was testicular cancer turned out to be poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma, a very rare and aggressive cancer, which we discovered in January has spread to the lymph nodes in his abdomen. We received this news the day after I had completed a stem cell donation to try and save a strangers life that’s suffering with blood cancer...
My dad’s oncologist in the UK told us that he has months to live and that there was nothing that could be done for him other than chemotherapy to try and hold the cancer back. We were told to come back in 2 weeks to discuss the chemotherapy. 2 weeks sounded like 2 weeks wasted to me when I had just been told that my dad would die within months, and so the real fight began....
I researched doctors specialising in this type of cancer and found Dr Granberg, a top specialist at Uppsala in Sweden. He responded to my email requesting help within 30 minutes and within days we flew out for a consultation with him.
Under Dr Granberg’s care my dad has received 3 rounds of chemotherapy and is fighting with everything he has. At his last consultation (Monday 21st March 2016) we received the good news that they do not think the cancer has spread further yet and that the chemo has shrunk the tumours. Unfortunately this type of cancer quickly becomes chemo resistant and now my dad needs 6 weeks of radiotherapy to try and get rid of this cancer for good!! (Something that wouldn't be an option in the UK). Dr Granberg has said this is his one chance to get rid of it and that we have got to hit it as hard as we can. It is so aggressive that if we don't then my dad will die, and soon.
The cost of this treatment isn't cheap and my dad now faces 6 weeks of radiotherapy in Sweden. We're in the process of finding him an apartment to rent for the time he will be there but we really need help funding his treatment and living costs.
All his life my dad has given to others and I really thought that now would be the time he could relax and enjoy life and focus on himself. At the rate we are going, if he can beat this horrendous disease he won't have any money left to live! I can't put into words how much your donation would mean to us - big or small, we would be eternally grateful. My dad is on track for the fight of his life and taking away the pressure of the financial strain would give him more energy to focus on the fight ahead. If I could physically fight this cancer for him then without a doubt I would, but life doesn't work that way. So this is me fighting on his behalf, and asking you to fight with us.
Tara xx
Organizer
Tara Maser
Organizer