Help Trung Beat Cancer

Hi. My name is Thuy and I am the older sister of Trung. I am hoping to start this GoFundMe to raise funds to help my little brother and his young family with the financial and medical burden of cancer. Trung is battling Stage 4 Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. As he continues to battle cancer he is having to greatly reduce his work hours while his medical bill accumulates. This is a tremendous burden he cannot manage on his own therefore we are asking for your help. Thank you in advance from the bottom of our hearts for any contributions. If you cannot support us at this time, we ask you to please keep Trung and our family in your thoughts and prayers. Every day with him is a blessing.

All about Trung:

Trung is a father, husband, son, brother, uncle and IT Professional. He is 32 years young. He has a wife name, Tam and they have a 1-1/2-year-old daughter name, Cynthia and reside in Colorado.

How it all started:

In the summer of 2022, Trung went in for a routine endoscopy and colonoscopy to help diagnose his ongoing GI issues. Upon his colonoscopy, they discovered a large mass in his colorectum. Pathology report came back and confirmed it adenocarcinoma. Upon further imaging and testing, he was diagnosed a few weeks later with Metastatic rectal adenocarcinoma with liver, lung and lymph node metastases (pMMR). Meaning his tumor has spread beyond the site of origin (rectum) and now is in his lungs, liver and lymph nodes. He was told there was a total of 11 tumors throughout his body as of July 2022.

It was and still is the most devasting news a person can bear; let alone having to share that with his family and friends. After a few weeks of coming to terms with the diagnosis; he finally shared it with his immediate family in August of 2022. The picture below is from the day after we heard about the diagnosis and us rallying in support of our brother. To show him that no matter what is going on with our own lives, family comes first! Definitely, a day filled with lots of tears and love.

Port insertion day:

Early August 2022

Start of Treatment:

The first day of Chemotherapy - Early August 2022.

Treatment Regimen:

Trung goes to chemo every two weeks and will continue to go until his team of doctors says otherwise. Chemo infusion days are long; averaging around 8 hours spent at the hospital. If you are not familiar with infusion; allow me to explain. Infusion days start with blood draws, doctor visits, waiting around, lunch @ the hospital, Infusion (6 hours), and finally a portable pump he takes home which delivers him chemo drugs over the course of 46 hours through his port. On the week of infusion; he is unable to work as chemotherapy makes him super exhausted and gives him a list of side effects. On the bright side, he still has his hair (I know right ) and is still in good spirits.

20 Chemo's and Counting:

- He has completed 20 visits of chemotherapy and counting (each chemotherapy visit cost approximately 30K- Holy moly is right).

- He has completed 1 round of radiation (You are only allowed one in your lifetime?).

- He has imaging every 8 weeks; usually after 4 rounds of chemo.

- He has a cvc port to access is main vein in his heart to deliver his life saving medication & chemotherapy drugs.

- He still feels weak but is a trooper for his family and especially with his young daughter.

Prognosis:

As of Spring of 2023, He has continued to have a tremendous response to the chemotherapy and added biologics. His entire care team is amazed at his progress and we couldn't have done it without MOM and DAD and all the amazing medical staff @ the Cancer Center! He has had a 60% reduction in the # of tumors sites. With the sites that are remaining, the size of those tumors have reduce by half in size. It's been a miracle and we are truly blessed!

Mom & Dad - Thank you for giving Trung a second life! Thank you for loving us. Thank you for feeding us! Thank you for supporting us! We love you till the end of the earth!