Hello. I'm Andrea and this fundraiser is for my brother Andy. At the end of March, at age 49, he was diagnosed with advanced metastatic prostate cancer. With prostate cancer, once it spreads to bone it is considered stage 4 and incurable; Andy's is also in multiple spots on his spine. All of the doctors are baffled that this has shown up in someone so young (he does love being told constantly how young he is!), much less that it's so advanced. There is literally no telling how long it has been there. He has had extensive genetic testing done and fortunately there are no other "broken" genes that would predispose him to other cancers. All we can do now is try to slow the progression and treat the day-to-day symptoms. The treatment to slow the progression is taking a toll both physically and mentally, though, and I'm not sure if it will continue for much longer.

What really gets me is that my little brother is not finished living! There are still things he wants to do, places he wants to go, things he wants to see. I want to help him enjoy life, however much longer his may be.

That's why I'm here; to humbly ask for help on his behalf, so he can check some more things off his bucket list before he is physically unable to do them. All donations will be used to help Andy make the most of what time he has left, whether it's skydiving, Rocky Mountain climbing, or 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu. This will likely include some extended Caribbean beach time.

Thank you very much for reading this and for anything you feel inclined to share. We truly appreciate it.

God bless,

Andrea

Update 06/27/24: We saw the oncologist yesterday and got great news. Andy's PSA level has gone from 560 at the end of March, to 40 in mid-April, to 0.7. Yes that says zero point seven. As in less than 1. Normal range is 0-4. His other bloodwork counts, levels, organ function, etc., were all within normal limits. This means the treatment is helping to slow the progression. AMAZING!!!!!

I also was able to get from Andy some things he had planned on doing at some point. These include at least 2 weeks in Mexico (for those who don't know, he actually lived in Puerto Morelos for 6 months last year!), a week in the Maldives, a Route 66 road trip, a Cannonball road trip, drinking Madeira wine in Madeira, eating chicken Kiev in Kiev, taking a pill in Ibiza, charter sailing from the Yucatan to the Lesser Antilles, and a supercar driving experience. He would like to take the Route 66 trip in a Shelby Cobra, a first year Viper, a pre-war Italian V-12, or a post-war German V-12, and the Cannonball trip in one of the new Amazon trucks. Go big or go home, right?! Or in this case go big before you go home.