Daniel's Leukemia Fundraiser

Hi, my name is Daniel Potter. I had a bit of a rough upbringing. I was raised in and out of homes between my mom and foster families in the foster care system, changing schools until I was sixteen. I suffered abuse from different boyfriends of my mom's and the psychological trauma of being raised in unstable, inconsistent families. At seventeen I was adopted by the family I am now still a part of. I also have my long-term girlfriend, Kayleigh, whom I've been with for nine years. She is part of my little family. We have two dogs, Atreyu and Gimley, and four cats, whom we love very much.

I started working as a bamboo farmer when I was fifteen to earn money. After that job, I went into the culinary arts and worked in the culinary industry for nine years. I've tried several times to start my own business in this field, but when I began seeing some success there, Covid struck and was the downfall of any progress. However, I still worked through Covid, not taking any time off, where I found myself as a bartender at a nearby bar. Flash forward to 2022, I am working at La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib as a bartender; our season is picking up, and then comes the back pain.

When I was about 9 years old I had a bad fall from a tree (25 to 30 feet) and cracked my ribs, ruptured my spleen, had internal bleeding, bent my back, had major concussions, and had to do rehabilitation for 2 weeks to be able to walk correctly again. Due to my unstable living situation, I didn't get the proper treatment or follow-up rehabilitation to take care of my injuries properly. Unfortunately, because of the lack of medical maintenance, rupturing my spleen led to more severe, life-long repercussions. A little over three weeks ago, I went to the chiropractor for the pain in my back. After adjusting my back, I began noticing more extreme bulging in my abdomen. The pain continued to worsen over the course of a week, and while at work it got so bad that a coworker ended up driving me to the nearest urgent care. There I was admitted to the hospital for further scans and bloodwork. While sitting in a waiting room alone, I found out that I have Leukemia. I was in the hospital for 48 hours doing more blood tests and a spinal biopsy. Then I was released without any knowledge of what stage my cancer was in, what form of Leukemia I have, or what kind of treatments I was in for. This was one of the most stressful and terrifying weeks of my life, which is saying a lot.

I now have an official diagnosis of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia or CML. I am starting treatment, Imatinib also known as Gleebec and a mix of four other medications, to hopefully decrease the swelling of my spleen and drop my blood cell count. If this medication works, I won't have to undergo Chemotherapy and Radiation. I have just started this medication, but so far my spleen is still enlarged, causing constant severe pain, moving my stomach and other organs from their natural placement, and making it hard to walk, eat, or engage in daily activities. For this reason, I cannot yet return to my job and am unsure when I will be physically able to work again.

I'm starting this GoFundMe in hopes for some financial support during this time that I am unable to work. I've always been able to support and rely on myself, so not being able to do so now is very difficult. I have already accumulated over $12,000 of medical bills and debt, with undoubtedly more to come. Between these unforeseen expenses and my everyday bills, I am falling short financially.

I am asking for any help and support from whoever can donate. Anything is appreciated. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this little autobiography and for donating. Please feel free to share this on your social media, or however you'd like.