Derek's Cancer Fight!
Donation protected
This is my best friend, my rock, my knight in shinning armor, the father of my 3 beautiful children (2 on earth and one waiting for us in heaven), my husband Derek. The past year has been a really tough year for our little family, Last April 2015, he started having double vision and horrible headaches, we rushed him to the ER to discover he had a brain tumor in the center of his brain (in the pineal region) the size of a walnut! In May 2015, he was able to have surgery to remove the tumor. They were able to remove as much of the tumor as they could see, and the surgery seemed to be a success. The tumor was sent to multiple labs and was diagnosed as a cancerous tumor. They diagnosed it as a neuroendocrine carcinoma.
After surgery Derek took a turn for the worse with a ton of complications. He threw blood clots to his lungs and became very sick. He had to be put in a medicated coma, put on a respirator and a ton of other procedures and medications to keep him alive. After a few weeks he was slowly regaining his oxygen levels and had a trachiotomy along with more procedures. After a month of intensive care he was finally improving, breathing on his own and was now becoming responsive. Once they were able to start therapies with him, he began to be Derek again. He could talk, respond, after a lot of tries was able to sit, stand, and walk again. After another few weeks he was able to go to a Rehab facility to further his therapies so he could come home to me and the girls. He was determined to get back to his "normal" life! By the end of July he made so much progress he was able to come home. He continued with and outpatient therapy and graduated in October 2015 and even started back to work gradually, and is now working officially full time 40 hrs a week! He also was just approved this month (March 2016) to drive again! We has made sooo much progress and has worked so hard to try and get his life back!
Yesterday we were given some really disappointing news, his latest mri scan showed more growths spreading in his brain...the cancer is spreading! So now we are once again fighting for his life! We are in the process of starting radiation treatments within the next few weeks. We are also making a trip to see some specialists to get more info on multiple treatments to beat this cancer!
Please help us raise money to help with his ongoing medical costs, transportation, and helping with keeping this little family going! I have been working full time this entire journey to keep ahead of the bills and to stay current. His health insurance has changed and his medical costs have increased which worries me as we continue to do very expensive testing, procedures and the radiation treatments and possibly chemo in the future. He is also in need of a vehicle now that he can drive again he would like to be able to take himself to his treatments and to work.
Please Help! My girls aren't ready to loose their daddy, and I'm not willing to give him up! I will do whatever it takes no matter how much it costs to keep him happy and healthy! He will be cancer free, please help in his journey to get there! Thank You!
After surgery Derek took a turn for the worse with a ton of complications. He threw blood clots to his lungs and became very sick. He had to be put in a medicated coma, put on a respirator and a ton of other procedures and medications to keep him alive. After a few weeks he was slowly regaining his oxygen levels and had a trachiotomy along with more procedures. After a month of intensive care he was finally improving, breathing on his own and was now becoming responsive. Once they were able to start therapies with him, he began to be Derek again. He could talk, respond, after a lot of tries was able to sit, stand, and walk again. After another few weeks he was able to go to a Rehab facility to further his therapies so he could come home to me and the girls. He was determined to get back to his "normal" life! By the end of July he made so much progress he was able to come home. He continued with and outpatient therapy and graduated in October 2015 and even started back to work gradually, and is now working officially full time 40 hrs a week! He also was just approved this month (March 2016) to drive again! We has made sooo much progress and has worked so hard to try and get his life back!
Yesterday we were given some really disappointing news, his latest mri scan showed more growths spreading in his brain...the cancer is spreading! So now we are once again fighting for his life! We are in the process of starting radiation treatments within the next few weeks. We are also making a trip to see some specialists to get more info on multiple treatments to beat this cancer!
Please help us raise money to help with his ongoing medical costs, transportation, and helping with keeping this little family going! I have been working full time this entire journey to keep ahead of the bills and to stay current. His health insurance has changed and his medical costs have increased which worries me as we continue to do very expensive testing, procedures and the radiation treatments and possibly chemo in the future. He is also in need of a vehicle now that he can drive again he would like to be able to take himself to his treatments and to work.
Please Help! My girls aren't ready to loose their daddy, and I'm not willing to give him up! I will do whatever it takes no matter how much it costs to keep him happy and healthy! He will be cancer free, please help in his journey to get there! Thank You!
Organizer
Kellie Vandenberge
Organizer