Marvin's Medical Fund
Donation protected
My son, Marvin Charles Riley, Jr was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor (DSRCT) last year, at the age of 24. DSRCT is an aggressive malignant cancer that mostly occurs in adolescents and young adults. In addition to smaller tumors in various locations, a very large tumor comsumes nearly his entire abdomen, blocking certain bodily functions, and others are embedded on top of vital organs. He suffers extreme pain and nausea daily.
Marvin has endured an entire year of 3 different types of extensive and aggressive chemo therapies (sometimes twice a week) according to his surgeon's plan of action to shrink these tumors; unfortunatley they were all unsuccessful. Medical research claims DSRCT is incurable but my son is a good candidate for undergoing surgical extractions so we are hopeful and prayful.
Marvin has recieved many diagnosis, recommendations, and treatments in various major cities. The travel has taken a toll on his body and all our finances. This is mainly because we live in Florida while Marvin lives in NC with his fiance' where he remained after his service in the U.S. Marines. Thankfully, after endless days and nights of research and hospital referrals, the surgeon we located is a specialist in DSRCT out of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Since the doctors strongly recommend surgery at this time-- and it will be a single day of extensive, combined 13 hours of surgeries-- we (Marvin, myself, and his sister) need to essentially leave our jobs and *live* in Texas for 6 weeks or more during surgeries and the recovery period. We wouldn't even consider asking for assistance via this account, but financially it will be very hard to do this without more help.
Although Marvin is a Marine, he has been out of Active Duty for more than a year so his and our travel or lodging are not covered by the Veteran's Administration (VA hospital) insurance. This is the reason for the GoFundMe account. We must get Marvin to this one chance for help! I can't think of any other way of putting it. It is hard enough trying to write about our lives on a website.
Please help us! Marvin is being a trooper through this life-changing event. He is everything a Marine is supposed to be! He served our country 4 years with an Honorable Discharge, only to come out to have his life risked not by bullets this time but by a diagnosis that even the doctors are skeptical about his chances.
My son Marvin has his good and bad days. He is a well mannered, well-liked, and highly respectable young man. Whenever he has the energy, he keeps an upbeat and positive attitude and doesn't allow people around him with negativity telling him his chances are low. Marvin's whole attitude towards this is "This won't beat me! Cancer can go to hell and we'll just have to pray and believe. I know it'll all work out". This is what Marvin says daily.
Anyone who knows Marvin, loves Marvin. He is very intellegent and naturally a fun-loving person a.k.a. the class clown matured to being a best-friend and motivator to all. He is not judgemental of people and always the one to get an entire room of folks laughing including his nurses, oncologists, surgeons, and other chemo patients. He is full of light and energy. Before the diagnosis, Marvin was in school to be a Radio Personaility Disk Jockey. It is the perfect fit to his personality although he has not been able to continue with school or work due to everything that is happening. And even though my son doesn't have very many good or energetic days, when he does, he tries to lift everyone else's mood by teaching himself how to play the guitar or trying to put together an online podcast to stay focused and not sorrowful.
I want to be honest and clear that the military's V.A. is paying for all of Marvin's medical expenses relative to surgery, actual hospital stay, meds and treatements. However, the V.A. is unable to assist with the costs of his travel, lodging, or living arrangements for getting to Houston, Texas for surgery and remaining local for recorvery because he has been out of Active Duty more than a year. Marvin receives disability but the entire amount helps to cover his home expenses where he and his fiance, her sister, and their dog Navi live in NC. We want to later train Navi to be a Service Animal for Marvin. Everyone in their home works and or goes to school. They were all doing their best as young people to make it on their own because their families already don't have much.
Marvin's surgery is scheduled for January and the move to Houston, Texas (although temporary) will be very costly which again is the purpose of this account. Your help towards this mission and the availablity of the GoFundMe webpage is nothing short of a miracle. You are needed today and will be greatly appreciated always. Please help us reach this reasonable goal for donations. Our family is coming together to try to piece together the majority of the money needed, still, we do need you. Also, please pray for Marvin's journey to recovery and healing. I know I wrote a lot but I love my son and my daughter with every beat of my heart so I don't know how anyone could express that in only a few sentences. Thank you for reading, donating, and sharing with others who might want to help also.
Marvin has endured an entire year of 3 different types of extensive and aggressive chemo therapies (sometimes twice a week) according to his surgeon's plan of action to shrink these tumors; unfortunatley they were all unsuccessful. Medical research claims DSRCT is incurable but my son is a good candidate for undergoing surgical extractions so we are hopeful and prayful.
Marvin has recieved many diagnosis, recommendations, and treatments in various major cities. The travel has taken a toll on his body and all our finances. This is mainly because we live in Florida while Marvin lives in NC with his fiance' where he remained after his service in the U.S. Marines. Thankfully, after endless days and nights of research and hospital referrals, the surgeon we located is a specialist in DSRCT out of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Since the doctors strongly recommend surgery at this time-- and it will be a single day of extensive, combined 13 hours of surgeries-- we (Marvin, myself, and his sister) need to essentially leave our jobs and *live* in Texas for 6 weeks or more during surgeries and the recovery period. We wouldn't even consider asking for assistance via this account, but financially it will be very hard to do this without more help.
Although Marvin is a Marine, he has been out of Active Duty for more than a year so his and our travel or lodging are not covered by the Veteran's Administration (VA hospital) insurance. This is the reason for the GoFundMe account. We must get Marvin to this one chance for help! I can't think of any other way of putting it. It is hard enough trying to write about our lives on a website.
Please help us! Marvin is being a trooper through this life-changing event. He is everything a Marine is supposed to be! He served our country 4 years with an Honorable Discharge, only to come out to have his life risked not by bullets this time but by a diagnosis that even the doctors are skeptical about his chances.
My son Marvin has his good and bad days. He is a well mannered, well-liked, and highly respectable young man. Whenever he has the energy, he keeps an upbeat and positive attitude and doesn't allow people around him with negativity telling him his chances are low. Marvin's whole attitude towards this is "This won't beat me! Cancer can go to hell and we'll just have to pray and believe. I know it'll all work out". This is what Marvin says daily.
Anyone who knows Marvin, loves Marvin. He is very intellegent and naturally a fun-loving person a.k.a. the class clown matured to being a best-friend and motivator to all. He is not judgemental of people and always the one to get an entire room of folks laughing including his nurses, oncologists, surgeons, and other chemo patients. He is full of light and energy. Before the diagnosis, Marvin was in school to be a Radio Personaility Disk Jockey. It is the perfect fit to his personality although he has not been able to continue with school or work due to everything that is happening. And even though my son doesn't have very many good or energetic days, when he does, he tries to lift everyone else's mood by teaching himself how to play the guitar or trying to put together an online podcast to stay focused and not sorrowful.
I want to be honest and clear that the military's V.A. is paying for all of Marvin's medical expenses relative to surgery, actual hospital stay, meds and treatements. However, the V.A. is unable to assist with the costs of his travel, lodging, or living arrangements for getting to Houston, Texas for surgery and remaining local for recorvery because he has been out of Active Duty more than a year. Marvin receives disability but the entire amount helps to cover his home expenses where he and his fiance, her sister, and their dog Navi live in NC. We want to later train Navi to be a Service Animal for Marvin. Everyone in their home works and or goes to school. They were all doing their best as young people to make it on their own because their families already don't have much.
Marvin's surgery is scheduled for January and the move to Houston, Texas (although temporary) will be very costly which again is the purpose of this account. Your help towards this mission and the availablity of the GoFundMe webpage is nothing short of a miracle. You are needed today and will be greatly appreciated always. Please help us reach this reasonable goal for donations. Our family is coming together to try to piece together the majority of the money needed, still, we do need you. Also, please pray for Marvin's journey to recovery and healing. I know I wrote a lot but I love my son and my daughter with every beat of my heart so I don't know how anyone could express that in only a few sentences. Thank you for reading, donating, and sharing with others who might want to help also.
Organizer
Arnell Lamons
Organizer
Fort Lauderdale, FL
