Nick Westphal's Medical Fund
Kasson hockey and soccer player Nick Westphal has dealt with more this past year than any person should ever have to deal with, much less as a 10th grader. Nick is the son of Chris and Jessica Westphal and brother to Chase and Oliver. Through all he's endured this past year and a half, he's shown nothing but courage and strength. Let's show him and his family how many of us are rooting for him to make sure that continues!
December 5th, 2014, Nick was getting ready for school and looking forward to going to a hockey tournament in Brainerd in the afternoon. He sat down in a chair and suddenly was unable to speak. He fell a few times and was extremely confused. He was having a seizure. He was rushed to the emergency department in Rochester, MN. The doctors performed a CT scan which showed a definite abnormality in his right frontal lobe. They decided to admit Nick and did a MRI. The MRI showed that the abnormality was a tumor, slightly smaller than a golf ball.
On December 18, Nick was placed in the hands of a pediatric neurosurgeon and underwent brain surgery. Despite there being a very high chance that the tumor was benign, the tumor was diagnosed as a Grade 2 Infiltrative Astrocytoma. Since then, Nick has endured numerous tests, MRI's and doctor appointments with neurologists, oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncology and others to monitor his progress and to determine his next course of treatment. It was determined that the remaining tumor was not in a spot that was easily operable.
After making the tough decision to wait until school was out, Nick began his summer break with the first of a series of proton beam radiation treatments on June 13th at the Mayo Clinic. He will be doing these daily for 6 weeks. For the next 6 months, Nick will probably be pretty worn down from the side effects of his treatment.
As you can imagine, the Westphals have endured a lot - financially and emotionally. They have had to attend numerous appointments, pay for medical bills and deal with the rollercoaster ride of having a child with brain cancer for over a year. And to make it harder, this all began right after Nick's dad needed a knee replacement and was unable to work for quite some time. Yet they have kept rolling with the punches, remained positive and tried to maintain as much normalcy as possible for their family.
Nick's "hockey family" at Dodge County Youth Hockey knows this wonderful family has endured so much this past year and will continue to do so. We would like to help in any way we can. Please consider helping the Westphals by donating money to help with medical costs and possibly other living expenses. Let's give the family one less thing to worry about, so instead they can concentrate on Nick's recovery.
Go Nick!!
Dodge County Youth Hockey Members