Champion Chad's Cancer Fight

6/21/18 Update:

Dear friends and family, I’m reaching out to you with a heavy heart.  As you know, these past three and a half years Chad McArthur fought his battle with colorectal cancer courageously, unwaveringly, and with his signature comedic wit and charm we’ve all come to know and love.

Sadly, Chad lost his battle with cancer on Monday, June 18th, 2018.  He passed away peacefully at home with his wife, Dana, and one of his best friends, Shelby, by his side.  Chad is survived by his wife Dana, their five-year old son, Ben, and countless friends, family, and colleagues. 

At Chad’s request, there will be no funeral service; instead, Chad wanted a celebration at a later time (in his exact words, a “kick ass party”). Celebration details will be shared in the coming months. Dana has asked that in lieu of flowers and cards she would love to have any memories, pictures, and stories representing all aspects of Chad’s professional life, friendship, his love of fishing and woodworking, and anything else anyone would like to share so that in the coming years, Ben will have a better understanding of the impact his father made in so many people’s lives. Details regarding an email and/or photo sharing site will be set up in the coming weeks in order to capture and share your memories. 

Again, I wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of Chad’s family, friends, and colleagues who have supported him through his difficult fight with cancer. Your outpouring of donations gave Chad the ability to prolong his life by participating in numerous clinical trials which bought him more time here with his dear friends and family—something he wanted more than anything in the world. Thank you.

 
{Any donations received moving forward will be set aside for Ben’s education}







Chad's Story:

While most families were celebrating the joys of the holiday season in December 2014, my brother in law, Chad, and sister, Dana, were in disbelief in their Albuquerque home as Chad had just been diagnosed with Stage IV A Colorectal Cancer.  I’m not even sure they celebrated Christmas that year, as all they could do was stare in shock at their son, Ben (not quite two years old at the time), and try to grasp what this diagnosis might mean for all of them as a family.

Rewind to the beginning of 2014 -- Chad’s primary care physician originally thought Chad might simply have a hemorrhoid and told Chad to follow-up with him again in 6 months if Chad continued to see blood in his stool. Six months later, Chad was back at the PCP as instructed, but the diagnosis was dramatically different after further testing – he was told he had a primary tumor in his rectum, attached to the muscle.  Unfortunately, by the time the tumor was found, the cancer had been carried through the lymph system completely covering his liver in lesions—all at the young age of 42.

Chad immediately started treatment at The Cleveland Clinic and had astonishingly positive results after the first round of difficult treatment—on follow-up, the cancer was virtually undetectable and the primary tumor was gone. “Yay!” they thought, “Take that, cancer!”  This great news was short-lived, though. The cancer grew back almost immediately after treatment and more aggressively this time. Since the cancer returned, Chad has spent the past two years exhausting all traditional types of chemo and radiation.  The cancer has become resistant to all of these drugs.

Last month, Chad participated in a clinical trial in South Carolina they were hoping could stunt the cancer from growing, but sadly the McArthur’s found out this week that the drug had no effect and Chad is now battling Stage IV B (the most advanced stage) cancer.  While this news was extremely disappointing, Chad continues to hold out hope and traveled to MD Anderson hospital in Houston, TX to determine if he could participate in another clinical trial. He’s currently awaiting biopsy results to determine his eligibility for the new drug.

Through all of the treatments, ports, rashes, exhaustion, nausea, vomiting, low white blood cell counts, emotional roller coasters, and generally feeling pretty shitty (no pun intended, as Chad himself tries to joke), Chad has had the same witty and positive attitude that we all know and love about him.  Even on the days he doesn’t feel well (which are frequent), he spends as much time as he can putting together puzzles with Ben (about to turn four later this month), loving his beautiful wife and soul mate, Dana, and hoping to fly fish again soon.

This GoFundMe page was created in response to the overwhelming outpouring of calls, texts, and inquiries to Chad and Dana from the many family members, friends, and collegaues who have wondered how they can help.

This is a simple and easy way give back to a wonderful, kind, and generous man who has given so much to so many of us.

Please consider contributing to Chad’s GoFundMe page to help support the McArthur family by easing in some way the financial burden they are enduring in this fight to battle cancer.  By donating, you’ll be helping to cover medical and other unexpected expenses, as well as travel costs associated with the frequent trips to Cleveland, South Carolina, and now to Houston to M.D. Anderson to try to find a new clinical trial to participate in so that Chad can continue to battle this terrible disease to be with his family and friends as long as possible.

Lastly, thank you all so very much for taking the time to read about Chad’s cancer fight.  With all the gratitude in my heart, and theirs, we appreciate your generosity and your love and support.

P.S.  Please help spread the word!  All donations will be used towards medical expenses and care-related expenses, and every dollar counts. Thank you!!