Please Donate to Tod's Stage 4 Colon Cancer Battle

Hello my Name is Tod and I have been diagnosed with my second battle of Colon Cancer which is now Stage 4 metastatic Colon Cancer.

Here is some of my current diagnosis.

The picture on the left is a few weeks before my Battle started in June of 2020 and the one on the right is my current picture from a couple days ago.  This is so depressing what cancer treatment and cancer is doing to me. Please help

I'm hoping I can find help with my fight in anyone that can help me financially with donations for the medical cost I'm going to be enduring and have once again. I really want to get a second opinion about the treatment needed and or plan to treat it effectively.  This second opinion is gonna be costly and I can't afford that burden again rite now. My first battle with Stage 3 B Colon Cancer that started in june of 2020 physically, emotionally, as well as financially drained me because of all the medical cost for supplies and appointments that were not covered as well as the cost to get to and from my appointments. At the time of my first battle I was driving 70 miles roughly one way to each appointment and during my Chemotherapy that was 3 days a week every other week.

This picture was taken during my first battle where Chemo was given to me for 72 hours every other week.  The first 5 hours were at Lemmon Holten Cancer center in Grand Rapids Michigan then 67 hours on a portable Chemo machine. 

Here is my story and or what up against that needs your help if you can. It's a long read but has been my life for 2 plus years now.

My battle started long before it was noticed in a routine colonoscapy June 22 of 2020. When I awoke from sedation that day I was told I had a 3cm × 4 cm mass / cancer in my colon. Everything seemed so unreal as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The Dr reassured at that time it was cancer and he had seen it many times before. As the days went bye and the thoughts swept my mind !!! I wondered how could this be true. Sadly enough it was true and my life became a whirlwind of Dr's appointments and phone calls every couple hours just to get the ball rolling on a plan to rid myself of this Demon. Less than a week went bye Covid test after Covid test because of the times we and are still dealing with, then cleanout after cleanout at which we all know what that's for.

Surgery was scheduled for June 29th of 2020 at which the Surgeon was going to remove this mass and had planned on only taking 3 inches of my distal Colon because I was told it was the maximum amount that he could remove without me ending up with an Ostomy. Surgery was done on June 29th of 2020 and the Surgeon had to remove more than what was expected at approximately 8 inches of my Colon because the mass was wrapped around more than he had known to expect. Great news though because even after taking eight inches I was blessed and didn't end up with an Ostomy. I was in recovery in the hospital for 3 days and released from the Hospital on July 2nd of 2020. I remember it to be a painful day that went for several more. A few weeks went bye and was waiting to heal because of the Chemotherapy requirements . I had another surgery to put a port in my chest for my Chemo during that time. Several complications were endured during those weeks and ended up with my surgery site getting herniated and just had to deal with it because the Chemo treatment had to get underway.

August 5th 2020 thru January 19th 2021 I went thru a bi weekly Chemo therapy treatment plan of Folfox 5 and Oxaliplantin. This was a very cruel drug but what my body needed to have a chance at beating this. Chemo therapy was every other week in 14 day cycles. The Folfox 5 with Oxaliplantin were administrator thru an IV for 3 of the 14 days in every Chemotherapy treatment. My first diagnosis was stage 3 B Colon cancer involving colon as well as lymph nodes and the odds of beating it were very low at like 34% but I kept a positive mindset and kept thinking that no way I'm going to let the Cancer win.

My last treatment was January 19th of 2021 and realistically was cut short because of my happiness and playing with a Doberman named Ruby. She never left my side when I was sick and I truly believe she knew that I was then and still am. Anyway we were playing and because of her knowing I was happy that day she started spinning with her own happiness and accidentally caught the cord on my portable Chemo machine and ripped it out of my chest. Yes an oh crap moment but the Dr / my Oncologist said it was fine and I had received enough of it that it didn't matter.

A few weeks had went by and I had a follow-up visit CT scan. The scan had revealed I was in remission and Cancer free at that time. I was told I had to get tested/ ct scan every 3 months with blood test of CEA levels at every test at which I did. Pretty much smooth sailing for the next twelve months besides the side effects from treatment that hadn't gotten better but even worse than they were. I can't feel my hands and feet, the pain I had is multiplied by about five times because of all the good cells the Chemo killed, I can't gain weight, I have terrible headaches, uncontrollable stomach aches , and amongst several other things I get cold really easy. Believe me I'm not complaining but this hasn't been and still isn't an easy battle. I'm so grateful for the Dr's and Oncology team at Spectrum health Lemmon Holten Cancer center in Grand Rapids Michigan because without them I wouldn't be here today.

In March of 2021 another General Surgeon repaired my surgical site herniation from my colon resection. He had told me after a 7 hour surgery reconstructing my belly and belly button that it was the largest herniation he had ever repaired. He did a great Job on repairing it. I was so grateful to get this done because I looked disfigured with it and now have a reconstructed belly and belly button.

Long story short in a routine follow-up in March of 2022 my Oncologist found a lung Nodule on my right lung in a CT scan measuring 4mm. My heart sank that day and just knew in the back of my mind the Cancer was back. My Oncologist I'm pretty sure also knew at that time it was indeed cancer but had hopes that it wasn't. It was too small to biopsy at that time so he suggested keeping a close eye on it at which he did. In June exactly 3 months to the day had past and another CT scan was done. The results revealed the same nodule has now grown to 9 mm. This was very scary to me at this point so my Oncologist ordered not only a Pet scan, but also a lung biopsy. All of these test were done by August 13th one day before my 59th birthday and approximately 4 days later the results were in. The Lung Nodule was confirmed to be malignant. Only a little more than a month had passed and now this Nodule was called a Mass and measured 1.3 centimeters from a 9 millimeter lung nodule. My second battle has now became a reality and scary as ever because now it's at Stage 4 metastatic Colon Cancer in my Right lung. Surgery isn't even an option on the table because of the location it's in. Radiation Therapy is the only other option at this time and given the odds will only extend my life. Even with this treatment the odds aren't in my favor at about 14%. The median survival rate statistics are about a 9 months to 2 years. I'd like to get a second opinion but that's gonna cost mega money that I don't have. I need this before I  can make my decision of what path I can take and the best way about it. I do know that I can't afford a second opinion  because of my first cancer battle literally killed me financially with the bills that were necessary to fight for my life.

I really never thought this would happen to me and you just don't plan things like this to be honest. As a matter of fact !!! We as Cancer patients , Survivors, or the many of us still fighting do not share our stories about the fight because we felt so alone even though we weren't.

   I know it was a really weird feeling to ask for help in my fight so I just didn't other than the Dr's at the Cancer center. When this all started I found that I pushed the people away that cared the most about me during my fight. The crazy part is I did it because I didn't wanna bring someone else down because of me being sick. Cancer does some crazy things to people and it's somewhat hard to describe what you actually feel emotionally. I think emptiness and or being powerless are good words to best describe how I felt.

With all of this being said about my battle the second time around I'd like to thank you all for reading this.

I honestly never thought I would ever be asking for help from anyone , let alone in a go fund me account on social media but the financial burden has drained me physically and emotionally since this all started 2 plus years ago.

Can you please help me make the this possible? My life depends on a better plan than my current Oncologist has planned for me. He is recommending radiation therapy as the only treatment but my theory is what about that other cancer cells still floating in my system and the area's lit up on my PET scan near my lower region? This is another reason why I need this second opinion. Please donate to help me with this .I will keep you all well informed of my journey and be grateful for whatever you can do for me. Prayers are also welcomed because I need all the help I can get. Thank you in advance ❤ God bless you all