Team Poppy - Fighting Cancer

As some of you may have already heard, my Poppy was recently diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. He went into the ER on April 22nd for a cough that wasn't getting better and some severe episodes of shortness of breath. After a handful of tests the doctors discovered a tumor in his right lung which caused the upper lobe of his lung to collapse. The tumor is pressing against his trachea and has blocked off the right bronchi causing his coughing and shortness of breath. He was admitted into the hospital for the biopsy and we received a confirmed diagnosis. We also learned that due to the location of the tumor, surgery is not an option.

Everything has been a whirl wind of appointments, tests, and information. We were sent to the West Michigan Cancer Center to meet with the doctor to discuss the severity and treatment options. Small cell carcinoma is an aggressive cancer that can spread quickly; luckily the MRI results showed that the cancer has not spread to his brain but it is in his lymph nodes. His doctor at the cancer center informed us that it is very important to start treatment as soon as possible. A PowerPort was inserted into the upper part of his chest on April 30^th and his first round of chemotherapy is on Monday May 6^th. Treatment is Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday every 28 days. After three months he will have a CT scan to see if the treatment is working.

For those of you that know me, you know my Poppy is my world. I will do everything I can to make sure he is taken care of. If you know me you also know that I'm stubborn and independent (I get that from my dad), I struggle with asking for help and support. While I like to pretend that I'm superwoman and I can take on the world, reality is I may need some help and that is why I set up this fund for my dad. This fund is to help with his medical bills of course but also living expenses and prescriptions that I can't afford on my own. Currently he doesn't have medical insurance but that's something we're working on.

My Poppy does manual labor but due to the insertion of the PowerPort, he's sore and unable to do some of the things he could before, for example carrying all the heavy stuff out of my car and into the house for me. :] We have no idea how the chemotherapy is going to affect him and when he is going to be able to work again. Like I said, he's stubborn but I'm going to be laying down the law about overworking himself. Even if you can't donate that's okay, if you could share this with a couple friends it would be greatly appreciated. We need and welcome positive thoughts too. It's going to be a long journey but we're fighters. <3