A Friend In Need Battling Cancer
Dear Friends, Family, and Brazilian Jiu Jitus Community,
I am helping my dear friend and brazilian jiu jitsu student Danny McGarry in his fight against stage 4 renal cancer. I have known Danny for the past 8 years and I can only describe him as the nicest person I have ever met in my life. Every time I see Danny and speak to him it brings so much joy into my life and reminds me how good people really can be in this world.
Now this gentle giant needs help from every good person in this world. Danny has been fighting this battle and it's a very tough one for him and his family but even when I still talk to him he is smiling and laughing. This is a person who I admire greatly.
Times are hard. Insurance costs don't cover every expense, medication is extremely expensive, Danny can't work to help pay his bills. He needs our help and so does his family. He has a wonderful wife and his son little Danny who follows in his footsteps. He's such a great little man who also started doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu just like his proud father. Please help.
Anyone in the central NJ area who donates will also be able to attend a charity Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminar that I will be holding for Danny on September 18th 2016. Any amount will help!
If you are apart of the BJJ community please put (BJJ) in at the end of your last name so I know. I will try to reward you for your kindness. If you will attend the seminar please put (Seminar) at the end of your last name and I will put you on the seminar list. Thank you so much for your kindness!
Jason Scully
----- Please Read Danny Story Below ----------------
Hello everyone,
My name is Danny McGarry, and I have been privileged with the friendship of Jason Scully. I also have had the privilege of being Jason's student at his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy and we have bonded in such a great way.
God has blessed me with his presence in my life. As a result he has become my dear friend . You are the true definition of community.
On April 2015, I was scheduled for a shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. All was well and I went through the standard pre-surgical check list which included a chest x-ray. To my surprise, days before the surgery I had one last scheduled appointment with the orthopedist to review everything , discuss the game plan, and prepare for recovery. Unfortunately at this visit, the orthopedist notified me that the surgery has been cancelled do to a large spot in the upper- posterior lobe of my right lung. I followed up with my GP and a pulmonologist who both agreed that a chest CT scan was required. Based in the CT scan’s findings it was determined there were several smaller tumors and nodules not visible through an x-ray alone. It was concluded that it was malignant although a needle biopsy was scheduled for certainty. Oddly the chest CT scan caught an unusual tissue sample in my abdomen. So we proceeded with a lower ab and pelvis CT scan as well. The scan revealed a 15 cm tumor that had all but destroyed my right kidney.
On May 5, 2015 I had a right radical nephrectomy at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in conjunction with the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. I was discharged and sent home for approximately six weeks for recovery at which time I was to be scheduled for high dose Interleukin 2 therapy [IL-2] (immunotherapy). The success rate of this therapy is claimed to be 25% which is the first line of offense used for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (provided that the patient qualifies and one who can tolerate the side effects which are quite damaging). I underwent this therapy being checked in at the hospital for one week and being released for two weeks for recovery. I started in June of 2015 and the therapy was terminated in early March of 2016, deemed that it had no effect and the tumors had grown in sized now destroying my shoulder and rib bones.
The chief oncologist for me was heading up a new clinical trial involving three new drugs that were claimed to be successful. Two of them were immuno drugs Nivolumab and Ipilumab, and the third was a strong brand new drug on the market call Cabozantanim which is considered a target therapy drug its design is supposed to reduce the flow of blood to the cancer cells which slows metastasis. Any one of these three drugs has a very strong potential for irreversible damage to organs, brain, or heart let alone the physical outward (viewable side effects) blistering of hands and feet, mouth sores, vision impairment, nausea, etc. I felt pressured to do the trial believing at that time that it was the only way to survive until the research nurse practitioner slips out that there was no survival.
Upon researching on my own I discovered that all of the patients that participated in the trial prior to me, lived only 18 months with the exception of one patient who survived up to 21 months however those last three months for him were pure agony and pain. Inhumane is the only word that comes to my mind.
I have always been an out of the box thinker and have always based my decisions on what I thought was right. Early on when I discovered that I had cancer, I entertained an alternative before my surgery. It was a very successful practice run by Drs. Nicholas Gonzalez and his wife Linda Isaacs MD. Provided that the patient maintained 100% compliance to their protocols, they had a high rate of success treat many varieties of cancer including the very deadly pancreatic cancer. Their system is a three pronged approach of 1)strict diet (which varies from patient to patient and can bee completely vegetarian to eating red meat three times per day)along with diet rich supplementation protocol, 2)Pancreatic Enzyme therapy (this is the major key to curing the cancer), 3) very strong detoxification process which includes juice fasting and 2x daily coffee enemas.
Unfortunately at that time i had just recovered for a torn quadriceps which kept me out of work for 6-7 months before I got back to work only to find the cancer some months later. Needless to say, I fell into a deep financial deficit. Without treatment I will most likely live for a year, with the trial 18 months but be useless to myself my family or my friends during that time. I have chosen to take ownership for my own health and wellbeing and believe that God has put me on this path. I don’t wish to be a “passive patient” any longer. I’d much rather do the work involved to celebrate life and have the opportunity to give each and everyone on of you a hug and a kiss, and I wont let go.
My gratitude extends far- far beyond words of our descriptive language. I can tell you that have breathed into me life, positivity, love, and selflessness, and by all of your kind donations, words , and prayers, have given me the strength that I’ve been looking for to go to war with this disease.
I am absolutely indebted to you all and please know that I am at your service.
With all of my love I thank you,
Danny McGarry
