Bill Krueger's Cancer Fight
Donation protected
My dad, Bill Krueger, needs our help. My dad had been going to the Mayo for regular testing to watch his M protein counts due to MGUS since January of 2015. MGUS stands for Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance. (MGUS) is a condition in which a white blood cell mutated and is attacking healthy tissue and is being produced in the bone marrow and circulates through the plasma. Most people with this condition have no symptoms. Only 1% of people with MGUS per year progress to Multiple Myeloma. In December of 2016, he went to the Mayo and had a PET scan which showed no tumors. Two months later, he went back down the Mayo and had 6 tumors and was officially diagnoised with the most aggressive kind of Multiple Myeloma. Two of the tumors were in his spine. At this time Mulitple Myeloma is treatable but not curable.
Since his form of Multiple Myeloma is aggressive, my dad was told he needed to do 4 cycles of chemotherapy back to back and then will need a stem-cell transplant. He was told by his doctors that he needed to quit working back in February.
On June 11th, my dad will be staying at the Mayo Clinic for extensive testing. Currently 33 appointments have been scheduled in two weeks to prepare for a stem cell transplant. If the tests are good, they will start the process of harvesting his stem cells. This process takes 6 weeks during which he will be very sick. After the stem cell transplant, if the numbers are good, they will do another stem-cell transplant which will require another 4 weeks at the Mayo. The doctors say this is the best chance he has of prolonging his life and could prolong it by 4 to 8 years! During these treatments, my dad will be staying at a hotel across the street from the hospital since this is a very high risk procedure with many possible complications.
On June 1st, the doctors found out that the chemo therapy has caused him to develop Atrial fibrillation (also called AFib) which is a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. They also found that he has two broken bones in his spine from the size of the tumors which were present. These broken bones require two separate back surguries after the stem-cell transplant is completed.
My dad's stem-cell transplant at the Mayo requires a 24/7 caregiver. The travel, housing, loss of employment, medications, food, and other needs during this time would be a challenge for almost any family. My dad has been unable to work since his diagnoses. While he is fighting for his life, morgage and bills need to be paid. The money raised will help pay for everything from gas to and from the Mayo, the hotel room where he has to stay for 6 weeks and maybe up to 10 weeks, food while he stays there, current and future medical bills and out of pocket expenses, caregiver services, cost for family to come visit him while he stays there for weeks, among other things. No donation is too small.
My dad and our family (wife Laurie, sons - Ben and David, daughter-in-law Kira, daughter - Liz, and future son-in-law Ben, and his grandchildren) are extremely appreciative all of your love, support, and prayers. Thank you so much!
Since his form of Multiple Myeloma is aggressive, my dad was told he needed to do 4 cycles of chemotherapy back to back and then will need a stem-cell transplant. He was told by his doctors that he needed to quit working back in February.
On June 11th, my dad will be staying at the Mayo Clinic for extensive testing. Currently 33 appointments have been scheduled in two weeks to prepare for a stem cell transplant. If the tests are good, they will start the process of harvesting his stem cells. This process takes 6 weeks during which he will be very sick. After the stem cell transplant, if the numbers are good, they will do another stem-cell transplant which will require another 4 weeks at the Mayo. The doctors say this is the best chance he has of prolonging his life and could prolong it by 4 to 8 years! During these treatments, my dad will be staying at a hotel across the street from the hospital since this is a very high risk procedure with many possible complications.
On June 1st, the doctors found out that the chemo therapy has caused him to develop Atrial fibrillation (also called AFib) which is a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. They also found that he has two broken bones in his spine from the size of the tumors which were present. These broken bones require two separate back surguries after the stem-cell transplant is completed.
My dad's stem-cell transplant at the Mayo requires a 24/7 caregiver. The travel, housing, loss of employment, medications, food, and other needs during this time would be a challenge for almost any family. My dad has been unable to work since his diagnoses. While he is fighting for his life, morgage and bills need to be paid. The money raised will help pay for everything from gas to and from the Mayo, the hotel room where he has to stay for 6 weeks and maybe up to 10 weeks, food while he stays there, current and future medical bills and out of pocket expenses, caregiver services, cost for family to come visit him while he stays there for weeks, among other things. No donation is too small.
My dad and our family (wife Laurie, sons - Ben and David, daughter-in-law Kira, daughter - Liz, and future son-in-law Ben, and his grandchildren) are extremely appreciative all of your love, support, and prayers. Thank you so much!
Organizer and beneficiary
Liz Betterley
Organizer
Blaine, MN
Bill Krueger
Beneficiary
