End of Life Care for my Father
Donation protected
On January 17, 2019 my dad was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer at the age of 50. This was a great shock to everyone. He biked to work daily through any weather and was in overall good health.
If you're familiar with pancreatic cancer, you know that it goes fast. He has accepted that he's going to die relatively soon. In hopes of making it to the summer to spend time with his family, he started chemo on February 5th, 2019.
Time is, unfortunately, of the essence. He's been forced to quit working. He has enough saved up to cover rent until March, but that doesn't include food, toiletries, transportation, or end of life care. He has no car, and relies on others to give him a ride if necessary. As his health fails, walking anywhere (and in Northeast winter weather) will no longer be an option.
I’m flying out to Pennsylvania from California to stay with him, accompany him, and take care of him as best I can in the time that he has left. He has a small support system, but we're all doing the best that we can to pitch in and help out where we can. Medical expenses are often outrageous, whether it be renting a hospital bed, paying for in-home hospice, or paying for room and board at a nursing home. I'm setting the goal at a bare minimum for now. I may adjust the goal over time.
All that ultimately matters to me is making my dad as comfortable as possible during the short time he has left with us. What this will all entail is still up in the air, and every day we're learning something new, but I intend to help him in any way possible - be it through buying groceries, doing housework, or simply keeping him company through chemo sessions. All funds gathered will go directly to him to improve his quality of life in however he personally sees fit. Any (unlikely) unused funds will go towards funeral arrangements.
I know it’s difficult to just hand over money, especially to someone you may not know well. There are tons of people dying from cancer every day who are just as deserving. But if you know my father, or you know me or my wonderful fiancé Lo, then I’m asking you as a personal favor. Please, please donate any little bit you can. If you can only spare 5 bucks, then hey, we’ll take it. If you can't donate, please do whatever you can to signal boost this - reblog it, retweet it, share it - every bit helps. Truly.
Thank you all so much.
[ A Little About my Dad ]
My dad, Robert Clay Harrison Jr. of Johnstown, PA is your everyday friendly, hardworking man of faith and kindness. Many of you may know him simply as “Bob” or “that cool guy from Sheetz.” Despite making changes in his life, such as quitting chewing tobacco and selling his car in order to bike every day to work, he was dealt a poor lot. His mother, my grandmother, also had pancreatic cancer and passed away at 69 years of age. We knew it ran in the family, but as you can guess, we all thought we would still have many more years to come with him.
Regrets are inevitable, for everyone involved, but now is not the time to despair. Now is the time to come together in a final hurrah of this man’s life. For it is his life we shall be celebrating, not his untimely passing. Bob is a good man, and he is loved and cared for by so many people. Maybe he didn’t change the world, but he changed the lives of the people he interacted with every day, put smiles on strangers faces, and he is one of the people who worked hard to raise me up into the person I am today. I owe him more thanks than almost anyone else for this. My existence here is at least half his “fault” and I’m forever grateful for that.
If you're familiar with pancreatic cancer, you know that it goes fast. He has accepted that he's going to die relatively soon. In hopes of making it to the summer to spend time with his family, he started chemo on February 5th, 2019.
Time is, unfortunately, of the essence. He's been forced to quit working. He has enough saved up to cover rent until March, but that doesn't include food, toiletries, transportation, or end of life care. He has no car, and relies on others to give him a ride if necessary. As his health fails, walking anywhere (and in Northeast winter weather) will no longer be an option.
I’m flying out to Pennsylvania from California to stay with him, accompany him, and take care of him as best I can in the time that he has left. He has a small support system, but we're all doing the best that we can to pitch in and help out where we can. Medical expenses are often outrageous, whether it be renting a hospital bed, paying for in-home hospice, or paying for room and board at a nursing home. I'm setting the goal at a bare minimum for now. I may adjust the goal over time.
All that ultimately matters to me is making my dad as comfortable as possible during the short time he has left with us. What this will all entail is still up in the air, and every day we're learning something new, but I intend to help him in any way possible - be it through buying groceries, doing housework, or simply keeping him company through chemo sessions. All funds gathered will go directly to him to improve his quality of life in however he personally sees fit. Any (unlikely) unused funds will go towards funeral arrangements.
I know it’s difficult to just hand over money, especially to someone you may not know well. There are tons of people dying from cancer every day who are just as deserving. But if you know my father, or you know me or my wonderful fiancé Lo, then I’m asking you as a personal favor. Please, please donate any little bit you can. If you can only spare 5 bucks, then hey, we’ll take it. If you can't donate, please do whatever you can to signal boost this - reblog it, retweet it, share it - every bit helps. Truly.
Thank you all so much.
[ A Little About my Dad ]
My dad, Robert Clay Harrison Jr. of Johnstown, PA is your everyday friendly, hardworking man of faith and kindness. Many of you may know him simply as “Bob” or “that cool guy from Sheetz.” Despite making changes in his life, such as quitting chewing tobacco and selling his car in order to bike every day to work, he was dealt a poor lot. His mother, my grandmother, also had pancreatic cancer and passed away at 69 years of age. We knew it ran in the family, but as you can guess, we all thought we would still have many more years to come with him.
Regrets are inevitable, for everyone involved, but now is not the time to despair. Now is the time to come together in a final hurrah of this man’s life. For it is his life we shall be celebrating, not his untimely passing. Bob is a good man, and he is loved and cared for by so many people. Maybe he didn’t change the world, but he changed the lives of the people he interacted with every day, put smiles on strangers faces, and he is one of the people who worked hard to raise me up into the person I am today. I owe him more thanks than almost anyone else for this. My existence here is at least half his “fault” and I’m forever grateful for that.
Organizer
Sam Harrison
Organizer
Johnstown, PA