Stage 4 & FIGHTING #CancerSucks
Donation protected
David was going about life, living it up at age 35, working, loving his girlfriend and kids, hanging out with friends.... and then he found out he had cancer. What he thought might be a simple strained muscle turned out to be the biggest game changer we could all face one day. David found out he had cancer, after it had already progressed to Stage 4, and that is a shock to anyone!!! It is the scariest news any doctor can deliver and it took a few Emergency Room visits to even discover it. When this all began in October 2017, he had no idea the amount of changes that his life would take in the coming months (trust me, I didn't either).
Ever since he was diagnosed with Classic Hodgkin's Lymphoma, he has suffered in extreme pain and fatigue all while fighting all the symptoms of Chemo Infusions. His oncologist made it seem like it would be a breeze in the beginning, only to find out after 6 months of treatment, the Lymphoma spread further into his body. His first PET scan only showed tumors in his spine and hip/groin area. Two months into treatment, a new PET scan revealed that only a select few tumors had reduced slightly in size, and a few new ones reared their ugly heads. After 12 full chemo infusions, the most recent PET scan showed that again, some of the original tumors shrunk, yet other tumors seemed to just MULTIPLY!!! When his oncologist said it spread to his hip, neck, shoulder, ribs, and liver, it was certainly bad news and not the news he expected to hear at all. Everyone wants to hear they beat the cancer eating away at them inside and that they are going to be just fine, but that is not always the case. That day was so hard emotionally on him and me. He has worked when he was able, many times when he probably should not have worked, just to try and help me pay the bills.... he is always aware of how stressed out I am, even when he is the one who should be stressed out.
We believe the next few months will be even more difficult than the last few. After having a liver biopsy last week, to confirm it was not a new type of cancer, just 11 new tumors of lymphoma , he is now looking at in-patient hospital stays with large doses of chemo therapy that will lead to a stem-cell transplant. The plan for treatment is also located about an hour north of home, in Temple, TX. David met with his new specialist today and he was able to FINALLY address his pain level, more so than any other doctor for the last 8 months, and be informative about his next course of treatment. He will be admitted to the hospital for 3-4 days at a time, 3 weeks apart, for the next 9 weeks. He will receive massive amounts of medicines to try and eradicate his body of the cancer cells. After that, he has to be admitted and stay for about 3 weeks for the stem-cell transplant. He stays as positive as he can most days, but some days are just down right frightening when he can hardly walk and when he can't sleep due to pain. These meds will make him sick, of course, and the usual side affects like hair loss and such.
The special stem-cell transplant oncologist in Temple told him today he is a rare case. Usually 3 out of 4 people are in remission after 6 months of chemo. So this oncologist actually has a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C... WE PRAY EVERYDAY THAT PLAN A WORKS THIS TIME AROUND!!!!!
That being said, at this time he finally got S.S.I., but it barely covers his truck payment and insurance, with a tiny bit leftover for gas or expenses. The medicaid that came with the S.S.I. is a blessing in itself to cover the cost of the expensive treatments and hospital stays, as well as his prescriptions.
My dad, his dad, my mom, and his brother have helped us out when they can, but it is hard to only rely on a few people for financial support. We are forever grateful to them and to everyone else who donated when we first opened a Go Fund Me account back in November 2017. We stopped sharing it when we thought it was getting better and we did not think we needed it anymore. Low and behold, we were dead wrong....
Please let me ask you all this, if you were put into this situation, what would you do? How would you survive paying all of your household bills? We are asking for a little bit of help to get us through the rough patches of this roller coaster ride. I really wish I did not have to ask for help, but sometimes pride has to be put aside to ensure survival. We do not want to lose our home, electric, water, or transportation due to lack of income while he is unable to work.
Any donations we receive will help us out tremendously with our bills and cost of living, especially now that David has to travel further from home for his treatments. Please help us any way that you can, if you can, and it will be a huge blessing for me and him!! Thank you!
Much love & gratitude from our family to yours,
Rachel and David
Ever since he was diagnosed with Classic Hodgkin's Lymphoma, he has suffered in extreme pain and fatigue all while fighting all the symptoms of Chemo Infusions. His oncologist made it seem like it would be a breeze in the beginning, only to find out after 6 months of treatment, the Lymphoma spread further into his body. His first PET scan only showed tumors in his spine and hip/groin area. Two months into treatment, a new PET scan revealed that only a select few tumors had reduced slightly in size, and a few new ones reared their ugly heads. After 12 full chemo infusions, the most recent PET scan showed that again, some of the original tumors shrunk, yet other tumors seemed to just MULTIPLY!!! When his oncologist said it spread to his hip, neck, shoulder, ribs, and liver, it was certainly bad news and not the news he expected to hear at all. Everyone wants to hear they beat the cancer eating away at them inside and that they are going to be just fine, but that is not always the case. That day was so hard emotionally on him and me. He has worked when he was able, many times when he probably should not have worked, just to try and help me pay the bills.... he is always aware of how stressed out I am, even when he is the one who should be stressed out.
We believe the next few months will be even more difficult than the last few. After having a liver biopsy last week, to confirm it was not a new type of cancer, just 11 new tumors of lymphoma , he is now looking at in-patient hospital stays with large doses of chemo therapy that will lead to a stem-cell transplant. The plan for treatment is also located about an hour north of home, in Temple, TX. David met with his new specialist today and he was able to FINALLY address his pain level, more so than any other doctor for the last 8 months, and be informative about his next course of treatment. He will be admitted to the hospital for 3-4 days at a time, 3 weeks apart, for the next 9 weeks. He will receive massive amounts of medicines to try and eradicate his body of the cancer cells. After that, he has to be admitted and stay for about 3 weeks for the stem-cell transplant. He stays as positive as he can most days, but some days are just down right frightening when he can hardly walk and when he can't sleep due to pain. These meds will make him sick, of course, and the usual side affects like hair loss and such.
The special stem-cell transplant oncologist in Temple told him today he is a rare case. Usually 3 out of 4 people are in remission after 6 months of chemo. So this oncologist actually has a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C... WE PRAY EVERYDAY THAT PLAN A WORKS THIS TIME AROUND!!!!!
That being said, at this time he finally got S.S.I., but it barely covers his truck payment and insurance, with a tiny bit leftover for gas or expenses. The medicaid that came with the S.S.I. is a blessing in itself to cover the cost of the expensive treatments and hospital stays, as well as his prescriptions.
My dad, his dad, my mom, and his brother have helped us out when they can, but it is hard to only rely on a few people for financial support. We are forever grateful to them and to everyone else who donated when we first opened a Go Fund Me account back in November 2017. We stopped sharing it when we thought it was getting better and we did not think we needed it anymore. Low and behold, we were dead wrong....
Please let me ask you all this, if you were put into this situation, what would you do? How would you survive paying all of your household bills? We are asking for a little bit of help to get us through the rough patches of this roller coaster ride. I really wish I did not have to ask for help, but sometimes pride has to be put aside to ensure survival. We do not want to lose our home, electric, water, or transportation due to lack of income while he is unable to work.
Any donations we receive will help us out tremendously with our bills and cost of living, especially now that David has to travel further from home for his treatments. Please help us any way that you can, if you can, and it will be a huge blessing for me and him!! Thank you!
Much love & gratitude from our family to yours,
Rachel and David
Organizer
Rachel Permenter
Organizer
Hutto, TX
