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Hello, we are Martin and Stuart Sands, and we are starting this Go-Fund-Me account for our dad, Steve Sands. He’s been dealing with a blood/bone marrow cancer, multiple myeloma, for a little more than a year, and now needs financial help to continue treatment.
For him and many other myeloma patients, the cancer attacked his bones, causing many lesions on his spine. By the time he started chemo in January of 2016, doctors had repaired a spinal compression fracture, he had lost 20 pounds from his trim frame, and he couldn’t move in bed or take a deep breath without pain. He began a treatment regimen with chemotherapy which concluded in June with remission. Then in September, he received word from his doctor that the myeloma had returned, and that he would need to resume chemo.
Along with the countless others who continually fight the battle against cancer, our dad has been faced with many difficult decisions. The biggest one came when he chose to forego the additional chemo treatment along with a risky procedure called a stem cell transplant in order to pursue alternative, non-toxic treatments. As with any kind of treatment for cancer, nothing is 100% guaranteed to work. However, alternative treatments have proven to be very successful in treating his disease, but have not been fully tested through clinical trials. Because of this, they are not covered by insurance. He has already paid thousands of dollars out of pocket for treatment, and still has a long way to go. It was shocking to hear how much he was having to pay out of pocket for alternative therapies, when insurance covered just about everything for his conventional chemo treatments. We need your help so he can continue these treatments, and not be forced to put his body through more intense chemo and a stem cell transplant procedure. Right now, after working hard his whole life and approaching retirement our dad will have to go into tremendous debt just to become healthy again!
If you know our dad, you know he is incredibly detail oriented and has done tremendous amounts of research and consultation about the alternative, non-chemo treatments he is receiving. You would also know that he is not the kind of person to ask for handouts, and that 100% of donations will go directly towards his treatments. (By the way, he still works a full time job!)
We pray for your generosity, and hope that you will join our fight to beat cancer, and to support healthier, non-toxic cancer treatments.
For more information, our dad has included his full story below, and goes into detail on his diagnosis and the ongoing process of his treatment.
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Hi, my name is Steve Sands. I feel somewhat embarrassed and very much unworthy to be asking for your financial help, but unfortunately, it has become urgently necessary.
I have a cancer of the bone marrow called multiple myeloma. This is an incurable cancer so I'll always need some type of treatment. And this is why I'm campaigning for funds.
A couple of years ago I thought I was one of the healthiest people in the country. I ate right (I thought) and exercised on a regular basis. But then ...
In early 2015, I had severe lower back pain. I went through physical therapy for a couple of months, then got an MRI which revealed a tumor on L4 vertebra. This tumor was diagnosed as a plasmacytoma. It softened the L4 bone and caused a compression fracture.
In the second half of 2015, the damage in the vertebra was repaired with a surgical procedure called balloon kyphoplasty. I then received 5 weeks of radiation to kill the tumor. A few weeks after radiation, I started feeling nauseous and was having back pain again, but this time the pain was in the upper back.
A follow up with my oncologist and X-rays in Dec 2015, showed bone lesions (small cavities) from skull to femur. This is a classic indication of multiple myeloma because this disease deteriorates the bones and prevents new bone growth from occurring. Most of the lesions were in the skull, ribs, back, and pelvis. I couldn't stand up straight and it became very painful to even roll over in bed. When I would get up from bed in the morning, it felt like my ribs would collapse from the weight of my body.
My followup with the oncologist in Jan 2016 was when I was told I had stage 3 multiple myeloma (final stage for multiple myeloma). Blood tests indicated that my kidneys were not functioning properly and I was admitted to the hospital where I stayed for two days until my kidneys started improving. I was given chemotherapy from Jan thru Jun 2016.
After the chemo was completed, I was told the disease was in remission and it was recommended that I have stem cell transplant (SCT) or at the very least start a maintenance program of chemotherapy. For conventional medicine, SCT is the gold standard treatment for multiple myeloma resulting in the longest remission time compared to other conventional treatments. However, this treatment requires high-dose chemotherapy which totally destroys the immune system. This can result in a multitude of other medical issues including other blood cancers in the future. So, for the time being, I have turned down SCT in hopes of pursuing alternative therapies that don't destroy the immune system as does the high-dose chemotherapy required for SCT.
I have found that there are alternative therapies that are effective in fighting multiple myeloma; however, these therapies are not covered by medical insurance and this is why I'm campaigning for funds.
Although I'll always need treatment, I truely believe that these alternative therapies are my best shot at restoring my body to a healthy state and living a somewhat normal life.
I thank you very much for your support and prayers.
For him and many other myeloma patients, the cancer attacked his bones, causing many lesions on his spine. By the time he started chemo in January of 2016, doctors had repaired a spinal compression fracture, he had lost 20 pounds from his trim frame, and he couldn’t move in bed or take a deep breath without pain. He began a treatment regimen with chemotherapy which concluded in June with remission. Then in September, he received word from his doctor that the myeloma had returned, and that he would need to resume chemo.
Along with the countless others who continually fight the battle against cancer, our dad has been faced with many difficult decisions. The biggest one came when he chose to forego the additional chemo treatment along with a risky procedure called a stem cell transplant in order to pursue alternative, non-toxic treatments. As with any kind of treatment for cancer, nothing is 100% guaranteed to work. However, alternative treatments have proven to be very successful in treating his disease, but have not been fully tested through clinical trials. Because of this, they are not covered by insurance. He has already paid thousands of dollars out of pocket for treatment, and still has a long way to go. It was shocking to hear how much he was having to pay out of pocket for alternative therapies, when insurance covered just about everything for his conventional chemo treatments. We need your help so he can continue these treatments, and not be forced to put his body through more intense chemo and a stem cell transplant procedure. Right now, after working hard his whole life and approaching retirement our dad will have to go into tremendous debt just to become healthy again!
If you know our dad, you know he is incredibly detail oriented and has done tremendous amounts of research and consultation about the alternative, non-chemo treatments he is receiving. You would also know that he is not the kind of person to ask for handouts, and that 100% of donations will go directly towards his treatments. (By the way, he still works a full time job!)
We pray for your generosity, and hope that you will join our fight to beat cancer, and to support healthier, non-toxic cancer treatments.
For more information, our dad has included his full story below, and goes into detail on his diagnosis and the ongoing process of his treatment.
------------------------------------
Hi, my name is Steve Sands. I feel somewhat embarrassed and very much unworthy to be asking for your financial help, but unfortunately, it has become urgently necessary.
I have a cancer of the bone marrow called multiple myeloma. This is an incurable cancer so I'll always need some type of treatment. And this is why I'm campaigning for funds.
A couple of years ago I thought I was one of the healthiest people in the country. I ate right (I thought) and exercised on a regular basis. But then ...
In early 2015, I had severe lower back pain. I went through physical therapy for a couple of months, then got an MRI which revealed a tumor on L4 vertebra. This tumor was diagnosed as a plasmacytoma. It softened the L4 bone and caused a compression fracture.
In the second half of 2015, the damage in the vertebra was repaired with a surgical procedure called balloon kyphoplasty. I then received 5 weeks of radiation to kill the tumor. A few weeks after radiation, I started feeling nauseous and was having back pain again, but this time the pain was in the upper back.
A follow up with my oncologist and X-rays in Dec 2015, showed bone lesions (small cavities) from skull to femur. This is a classic indication of multiple myeloma because this disease deteriorates the bones and prevents new bone growth from occurring. Most of the lesions were in the skull, ribs, back, and pelvis. I couldn't stand up straight and it became very painful to even roll over in bed. When I would get up from bed in the morning, it felt like my ribs would collapse from the weight of my body.
My followup with the oncologist in Jan 2016 was when I was told I had stage 3 multiple myeloma (final stage for multiple myeloma). Blood tests indicated that my kidneys were not functioning properly and I was admitted to the hospital where I stayed for two days until my kidneys started improving. I was given chemotherapy from Jan thru Jun 2016.
After the chemo was completed, I was told the disease was in remission and it was recommended that I have stem cell transplant (SCT) or at the very least start a maintenance program of chemotherapy. For conventional medicine, SCT is the gold standard treatment for multiple myeloma resulting in the longest remission time compared to other conventional treatments. However, this treatment requires high-dose chemotherapy which totally destroys the immune system. This can result in a multitude of other medical issues including other blood cancers in the future. So, for the time being, I have turned down SCT in hopes of pursuing alternative therapies that don't destroy the immune system as does the high-dose chemotherapy required for SCT.
I have found that there are alternative therapies that are effective in fighting multiple myeloma; however, these therapies are not covered by medical insurance and this is why I'm campaigning for funds.
Although I'll always need treatment, I truely believe that these alternative therapies are my best shot at restoring my body to a healthy state and living a somewhat normal life.
I thank you very much for your support and prayers.