Help Joe Torre
Donation protected
Hi! My name is Gina (Torre) Knapp and I would like for you to get to know my little Brother, Joey. Even though he is 46 years old he will always be “my little Brother”. He is a very proud, loving and hard-working man, a wonderful husband and father to two beautiful little girls, a little brother, and a son that any parent would be proud to call their own. Here is “my little Brother’s” story:
Around August of 2012 Joey started feeling ill, like he had the flu. His bones and muscles ached; he was nauseated, tired and felt rundown. There was a dramatic change in his mental state. He went to see his doctor and was sent for some blood work. The blood test showed that he had excessively high levels of calcium in his blood and excessively high levels of the parathyroid hormone (PTH). He had a heart arrhythmia and heart palpitations, and reduced kidney function. He was immediately admitted to the hospital and spent the next 3 days there to reduce the blood calcium level. Joey was diognosed with Primary Hyperparathyroidism which is caused by a normal parathyroid gland turning into a tumor. The tumor secretes an uncontrolled high level of parathyroid hormone causing the blood calcium to elevate. Almost all tumors of this type are benign, and less than .05% is cancer. After his first surgery to remove the tumor it was determined that he was suffering from parathyroid cancer (NOT thyroid cancer). Parathyroid cancer is extremely rare with less than a few dozen reported cases in the U.S. each year.
Symptoms as a result of the high blood calcium caused by Parathyroid Cancer are a loss of concentration, depression, Osteoporosis, Osteopenia, heart arrhythmias, Atrial Fibrillation (often requiring blood thinners and pacemakers), kidney stones (and eventually kidney failure), and high blood pressure, to name just a few. My Brothers’ condition is even more severe due to the fact that he only has two-thirds of one kidney (he lost the rest to kidney disease when he was two years old). The high level of calcium in his blood is more dangerous for him as it would be in an otherwise healthy individual.
There is no cure for parathyroid cancer, and Joey has had no extensive remission periods. Currently there are no chemotherapies available that have any effect on this type of cancer. The only treatment is surgery to remove the tumors as they re-grow. With each surgery the risk of morbidity increases such as vocal cord paralysis, muscle removal – neck mobility, and speech and swallowing difficulty.
So here we are today. My little Brother is still in constant agony from the muscle and bone pain, he continues to have heart troubles and his kidney function has been severely reduced. It is only a matter of time before he will require a kidney transplant if we cannot get his calcium levels down and keep them down. Or worse he will succumb to this disease if not controlled, which is getting increasingly difficult. If you are in a financial position to make a donation, any size donation, to help my little Brother do all he can to fight this horrible cancer, he, his family and I would be forever grateful. And if you are not in that position we would LOVE to have your prayers and positive thoughts to help keep my Brothers spirits up and keep him going. Thank you for reading “my little Brothers’” story.
Sincerely,
Gina (Torre) Knapp
Lothian, MD
Around August of 2012 Joey started feeling ill, like he had the flu. His bones and muscles ached; he was nauseated, tired and felt rundown. There was a dramatic change in his mental state. He went to see his doctor and was sent for some blood work. The blood test showed that he had excessively high levels of calcium in his blood and excessively high levels of the parathyroid hormone (PTH). He had a heart arrhythmia and heart palpitations, and reduced kidney function. He was immediately admitted to the hospital and spent the next 3 days there to reduce the blood calcium level. Joey was diognosed with Primary Hyperparathyroidism which is caused by a normal parathyroid gland turning into a tumor. The tumor secretes an uncontrolled high level of parathyroid hormone causing the blood calcium to elevate. Almost all tumors of this type are benign, and less than .05% is cancer. After his first surgery to remove the tumor it was determined that he was suffering from parathyroid cancer (NOT thyroid cancer). Parathyroid cancer is extremely rare with less than a few dozen reported cases in the U.S. each year.
Symptoms as a result of the high blood calcium caused by Parathyroid Cancer are a loss of concentration, depression, Osteoporosis, Osteopenia, heart arrhythmias, Atrial Fibrillation (often requiring blood thinners and pacemakers), kidney stones (and eventually kidney failure), and high blood pressure, to name just a few. My Brothers’ condition is even more severe due to the fact that he only has two-thirds of one kidney (he lost the rest to kidney disease when he was two years old). The high level of calcium in his blood is more dangerous for him as it would be in an otherwise healthy individual.
There is no cure for parathyroid cancer, and Joey has had no extensive remission periods. Currently there are no chemotherapies available that have any effect on this type of cancer. The only treatment is surgery to remove the tumors as they re-grow. With each surgery the risk of morbidity increases such as vocal cord paralysis, muscle removal – neck mobility, and speech and swallowing difficulty.
So here we are today. My little Brother is still in constant agony from the muscle and bone pain, he continues to have heart troubles and his kidney function has been severely reduced. It is only a matter of time before he will require a kidney transplant if we cannot get his calcium levels down and keep them down. Or worse he will succumb to this disease if not controlled, which is getting increasingly difficult. If you are in a financial position to make a donation, any size donation, to help my little Brother do all he can to fight this horrible cancer, he, his family and I would be forever grateful. And if you are not in that position we would LOVE to have your prayers and positive thoughts to help keep my Brothers spirits up and keep him going. Thank you for reading “my little Brothers’” story.
Sincerely,
Gina (Torre) Knapp
Lothian, MD
Organizer and beneficiary
Gina Torre Knapp
Organizer
Shady Side, MD
Nicole Torre
Beneficiary