Donation protected
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2/25/2021
As many of you know my dad has been fighting cancer since 2018. As of a few weeks ago he decided to take the plunge and go to Mayo Clinic to get a full panel of tests and scans to see what the treatment options would be for chemo and radiation. We first found out that dads cancer is not lymphoma as we have thought this entire time but is actually head and neck cancer originating from the nasal pharyngeal area and spreading to the neck and sinus areas. All of the doctors my dad saw at Mayo basically flat out told him that they don’t even know how he is still alive and standing in front of them and on top of that being one of the healthiest cancer patients they have ever seen. Along with all the testing and scans and biopsies done at Mayo, dad met with a chemo oncologist and a radiation oncologist. The chemo oncologist told my dad that in all his years of being a doctor he has never seen a head and neck cancer as bad as my dads. So after all the appointments and tests and meetings and everything, the treatment plan is as follows: he will do 3-4 cycles of IV chemo which will be a cycle every 3 weeks. The reason for doing chemo only first is to hopefully shrink down the tumors to as small as possible so the radiation can be given to the smallest area possible. After the 3-4 cycles of chemo then he will do an intense 7 weeks, Monday-Friday, of chemo and radiation. The type of radiation will depend on how much the tumors respond to the chemo. If the tumors shrink down enough then he can receive targeted radiation which is only offered at Mayo. If the tumors don’t shrink down enough to qualify for targeted radiation then he will receive standardized radiation. Starting off for just the chemo, he will receive that at Avera in Sioux Falls from a chemo oncologist who is one of the best and highly recommended by the chemo oncologist at Mayo who even said he would consider him a better doctor than himself. When it comes time to start the chemo and radiation together, where that is administered will depend on if he qualifies for targeted or standardized radiation. As I said above the targeted is only offered at Mayo but the radiation oncologist at Mayo did say there a handful of radiation oncologists that he could recommend if he were to receive that in Sioux Falls as well. Obviously the hope would be for the tumors to shrink down enough that he can receive the targeted radiation at Mayo. As you can imagine, 7 weeks is a long time to have to stay/live away from home in a hotel of some sort which is what will has to happen and also, someone has to stay with dad for that 7 weeks also. I’m sure you can imagine the financial tole this is going to take on everyone between traveling, gas, hotel, bills and food. Right now dad wants to just focus on starting the chemo and getting through it and then we will then move on to focusing on that 7 weeks. The goal of this treatment plan would be to completely eliminate the cancer and for it to be totally gone. Obviously this treatment is going to be very intense not only physically but mentally and emotionally. If some of the financial stress could be alleviated that would be one less thing for my dad to worry about. Anything at all that anyone could do even if not financially but sending good thoughts and prayers will be appreciated more than you will ever know. Thank you to everyone for everything thus far❤️
Organizer and beneficiary
Kayla Schroeder
Organizer
Sioux City, IA
Rick Schroeder
Beneficiary