Devin's Fight

Hi, my name is Taren & I am fundraising for Devin’s medical and travel expenses.

Here is his story,

As Devin navigates through this journey, I thought I’d share it with his family, friends, and loved ones.

Devin works for CP (Canadian Pacific) Railroad as a conductor. In September of 2021, Devin was in a train/semi collision while operating the train. The driver of the semi drove in front of the train, and Devin was unable to stop and collided with the truck's loaded trailer at the crossing. Thankfully, no one was fatally injured upon impact. Devin was sent to the ER because he was knocked unconscious from the collision and needed to get checked over. Both parties were bruised, sore, and very shaken up. Devin has been to several doctor visits since this accident happened, and because of the concussion, he has since been unable to work. Shortly after, he began to get headaches, and he was told that it was post-concussive syndrome "post-traumatic concussion." It is a syndrome that can happen from concussions and can last a long time. His primary doctor was puzzled because nothing was giving him relief and suggested he see a neurologist. In December of 2022, frustration was settling in as we were not getting any answers, and nothing was helping his symptoms. He still couldn’t return to work as the railroad required him to be 100% before returning. However, because he wasn’t, his railroad insurance dropped him in November of 2022 because he wasn't able to prove he was disabled. In December, they decided that they were going to do an MRI to rule out anything more. He then had an appointment in January for a non-contrast MRI. They discovered a thalamic lesion in the right posterior thalamus. He was then sent to Grand Forks, there, they did a second MRI with the contrast this time. The results came back the same. The doctor explained that it is something that needs immediate action. We asked what it was. However, the doctor didn't want to speculate. Instead, he referred Devin to a Mayo Hospital Neurologist that would help give us a better understanding. We traveled to the Mayo Hospital and met with the neurologist, who explained he indeed sees the same thing. At that point, they explained that they needed to do brain surgery to get a biopsy and get a better understanding of what we were dealing with. We were then told that it looked like glioblastoma, a highly aggressive tumor.

On March 14th, 2023, Devin had a biopsy and exploratory surgery, at which time the surgeon went through the top right side of the head/skull. He replaced a titanium plate where he took a piece of the skull out, then stapled the skin back together. Devin was in ICU for one day and was released from the hospital to heal while waiting for the results. His doctor said that after reviewing the biopsy, if he were to take a guess, it looks like a low-grade tumor versus a high-grade tumor, meaning it was a slow-growing tumor. On March 29th, Devin had a Zoom appointment, and his neurologist informed us that not all his pathology results were back yet, and more extensive tests were needed.

On April 11th Devin's pathology results came back as a Glioma. DNA showed EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor) mutation. It is unclear how the EGFR will affect the behavior of the tumor at this time, but they know that it is destined to behave aggressively in the future.

On April 14th, he met with his neurologist to discuss what his next step in treatment should be. He has a team of doctors that got together and had a tumor board conference in which they discussed that he could do laser ablation to try to reduce the tumor cell volume before radiation/chemotherapy (this brain surgery is also known as LITT, Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy). Afterward, he would start radiation treatments and then chemotherapy.

On April 19th, he met with the surgeon to go over the LITT procedure and if he should do it. The surgeon stated that there is a 25% - 30% risk that he would have permanent damage done to the brain/body if he were to have that surgery. Along with many other risks that would be unknown until after. He and his doctor decided that the unknown was far too risky to do surgery. Next week, he will meet with the radiation oncology team. They will then arrange the logistics of therapy, at which time his neurologist will set up the chemotherapy appointments. So, we are praying and trusting in the Lord for a miracle.

We will do our best to update this as new information becomes available.

If you want to donate funds to Devin Venmo:

@Shara-Paradis or @devinparadis

We also have accounts set up at Unity Bank North and Dakota Heritage Bank in Red Lake Falls.