Help Our Dad With Cancer, Keep Our Family Going
Donation protected
Bear with us, we know this is long, please read the full story. Sit back, relax, and donate! On April 19th, 2017, our dad, Jeff Green, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia- this is an
aggressive blood cancer that affects the bone marrow and immune system.
Little did we know that this diagnosis would upend our lives and toss us into a roller coaster of treatments, health scares, health triumphs, and in general the unknown.
He began chemotherapy treatments shortly after his diagnosis, landing him in the hospital for a whopping 9 weeks. He was afflicted with kidney stones, gout and a tooth infection on top of his cancer. He was released from the hospital the first time after receiving chemo and treatment for those ailments, but was admitted not long after for an emergency gall bladder removal surgery. A few months later he landed in the ICU for pneumonia and almost died. He received a few more rounds of chemo and started naturopathic remedies including vitamin C infusions and hyperbaric treatments- all out of pocket costs.
His cancer started to trend down but in May of 2018 the cancer returned so he flew down to Hope4Cancer in Mexico to receive targeted treatments. The doctors could not get ahead of the growth of cancer cells so they cut his stay short, sending him home to the states for an emergency round of chemo (Hope4Cancer does not use high-dose chemotherapy treatments). His oncology team paired his chemo with a new drug called Mylotarg which is used to target the parent cancer cells. He was in the hospital for 45 days!
In September of 2018 we received the news that he was in a technical full remission!
During this time, he was advised through his team at SCCA to do a consolidation round of chemo and get a bone marrow transplant. Our dad was adamant about using the transplant as a last resort. He was fortunate to be accepted into a clinical study that would drastically reduce the chance of a full transplant. He had the consolidation round of chemo at the end of October 2018. He went in for blood draws on November 19th where 25 vials of blood were drawn to use for testing in preparation of this clinical study. He then had complications from the last round of drugs and blood draws and spent his Thanksgiving in the hospital.
On November 26, 2018, we got the devastating news that his cancer returned with a vengeance to 22% blast cells.
Only 2 months had gone by cancer free. That goes to show you just how aggressive this disease truly is.
While all of his health complications were raging on, there was more going on behind the scenes outside of his hospital visits and outpatient treatments. Our parents both lost their jobs. Our parents lost the entirety of their savings/nest egg. Our parents were forced to sell their home because medical bills outweighed cost of living. He had to spend his birthday, holidays, and special occasions laying in a hospital bed. Our mom became his full time caregiver and spent countless hours shuttling him to appointments, making 911 calls and executive decisions regarding his treatments. She was appointed as his power of attorney. Can you imagine how exhausting this is?
We gave up our jobs, friends and independent lives in Colorado to come home to be with our family in their time of need.
Cancer affects the entire family.
That brings us to the past few months.
Our dad underwent a 28 day clinical trial starting in early December. This trial -in essence- was a study that utilized drugs to kick-start his immune system into recognizing the cancer cells and fighting them.
He had a majorly adverse reaction that caused major inflammation and a painful rash that attacked his entire body. This sent him the ICU. He managed to over come his complications and tough out the remainder of the trial. Sadly this did not do much for his immune system or the cancer.
The cancer has infiltrated his spinal and brain fluid. He was receiving spinal chemo injections and had surgery to install a port into his brain to receive targeted chemo treatments there. It is not enough. His face is paralyzed and he is weak. He is currently battling a C-Diff infection on top of cancer. The infection means he can barely eat and has been experiencing rectal bleeding.
In short the prognosis is not good.
This experience has been more than traumatic for our family. We are pleading for donations to keep our family afloat. Our dad was the main breadwinner for the family, and now we've lost everything.
Remember, you could be one diagnosis away from an experience similar to ours.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read this, share our story, and donate.
With love,
Anja & McKenna
<3
Little did we know that this diagnosis would upend our lives and toss us into a roller coaster of treatments, health scares, health triumphs, and in general the unknown.
He began chemotherapy treatments shortly after his diagnosis, landing him in the hospital for a whopping 9 weeks. He was afflicted with kidney stones, gout and a tooth infection on top of his cancer. He was released from the hospital the first time after receiving chemo and treatment for those ailments, but was admitted not long after for an emergency gall bladder removal surgery. A few months later he landed in the ICU for pneumonia and almost died. He received a few more rounds of chemo and started naturopathic remedies including vitamin C infusions and hyperbaric treatments- all out of pocket costs.
His cancer started to trend down but in May of 2018 the cancer returned so he flew down to Hope4Cancer in Mexico to receive targeted treatments. The doctors could not get ahead of the growth of cancer cells so they cut his stay short, sending him home to the states for an emergency round of chemo (Hope4Cancer does not use high-dose chemotherapy treatments). His oncology team paired his chemo with a new drug called Mylotarg which is used to target the parent cancer cells. He was in the hospital for 45 days!
In September of 2018 we received the news that he was in a technical full remission!
During this time, he was advised through his team at SCCA to do a consolidation round of chemo and get a bone marrow transplant. Our dad was adamant about using the transplant as a last resort. He was fortunate to be accepted into a clinical study that would drastically reduce the chance of a full transplant. He had the consolidation round of chemo at the end of October 2018. He went in for blood draws on November 19th where 25 vials of blood were drawn to use for testing in preparation of this clinical study. He then had complications from the last round of drugs and blood draws and spent his Thanksgiving in the hospital.
On November 26, 2018, we got the devastating news that his cancer returned with a vengeance to 22% blast cells.
Only 2 months had gone by cancer free. That goes to show you just how aggressive this disease truly is.
While all of his health complications were raging on, there was more going on behind the scenes outside of his hospital visits and outpatient treatments. Our parents both lost their jobs. Our parents lost the entirety of their savings/nest egg. Our parents were forced to sell their home because medical bills outweighed cost of living. He had to spend his birthday, holidays, and special occasions laying in a hospital bed. Our mom became his full time caregiver and spent countless hours shuttling him to appointments, making 911 calls and executive decisions regarding his treatments. She was appointed as his power of attorney. Can you imagine how exhausting this is?
We gave up our jobs, friends and independent lives in Colorado to come home to be with our family in their time of need.
Cancer affects the entire family.
That brings us to the past few months.
Our dad underwent a 28 day clinical trial starting in early December. This trial -in essence- was a study that utilized drugs to kick-start his immune system into recognizing the cancer cells and fighting them.
He had a majorly adverse reaction that caused major inflammation and a painful rash that attacked his entire body. This sent him the ICU. He managed to over come his complications and tough out the remainder of the trial. Sadly this did not do much for his immune system or the cancer.
The cancer has infiltrated his spinal and brain fluid. He was receiving spinal chemo injections and had surgery to install a port into his brain to receive targeted chemo treatments there. It is not enough. His face is paralyzed and he is weak. He is currently battling a C-Diff infection on top of cancer. The infection means he can barely eat and has been experiencing rectal bleeding.
In short the prognosis is not good.
This experience has been more than traumatic for our family. We are pleading for donations to keep our family afloat. Our dad was the main breadwinner for the family, and now we've lost everything.
Remember, you could be one diagnosis away from an experience similar to ours.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read this, share our story, and donate.
With love,
Anja & McKenna
<3
Organizer and beneficiary
McKenna Green
Organizer
Tacoma, WA
Karin Green
Beneficiary
