Over the 2018 Thanksgiving holiday, Alex ended up in the ER with what he had thought were kidney stones. After a CT scan was performed, numerous tumors were found throughout his abdomen, and countless spots were found throughout his lungs. After a few days spent at Mt. Nittany in State College and a transfer to Geisinger Danville ICU, Alex was diagnosed with Stage (4) 3C Testicular Choriocarcinoma on December 1st, 2018. This is an aggressive cancer and needed treated immediately. His tumor markers had spiked over a course of only a few months to almost 857,000 (normal range being 0-1). Alex has since been under the care of treatment through countless oncology doctors and specialists at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland for over the last year. From December 2018 to February 2019, Alex underwent four rounds of high dose VIP chemotherapy. Alex also underwent a radical inguinal orchiectomy to remove the right testicle, which is believed to have been the starting origin of his cancer. He then underwent a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, or RPLND, in April 2019. In October 2019, about six months had passed, and tumor markers were finally leveling out and lung mets were shrinking. Unfortunately, as of most recently (12/31/19), Alex was taken to the ER after suffering a seizure while at the gym. The doctors performed a CT and MRI and found a 2.5cm mass on the left back side of his brain. He underwent brain surgery to remove the mass on Monday, Jan 13th. Pathology came back as expected— metastatic cancer. He is currently home and recovering for the next week weeks until the next treatment steps are decided out. In the meantime, he is not able to drive per doctors orders under any circumstances. According to Maryland Law, it may be up to 90 days without driving or operation of a vehicle. No one should have to go through this with the extra stress of financial burdens. This page was created to raise money for Alex, in order to make up for the hospital bills that have already begun to pile up, even with his insurance, and now as we have entered the new year. The money will essentially make up for the wages lost during his time of treatment and recovery. The money raised will go into a separate savings account created for this sole purpose (monthly rent, bills, utilities, car rides, etc.) Every penny helps. Thank you for your donation! It is greatly appreciated.