On May 11th, 2024 Dad was taken to the emergency room. The symptoms he had that day were all pretty characteristic of a stroke, so our expectation was that he had a stroke. After going through some tests, the doctors had discovered that his symptoms were not brought on by a stroke, but rather that he had a giant tumor, the size of a tennis ball compressing the one side of his brain, and that was the cause of the symptoms.

The following day dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and needed emergency surgery. On May 15th, he underwent a five hour long operation to remove the tumor. We were all relieved to know that surgery went well, and that dad had tolerated the surgery well. After a night in the hospital, Dad had experienced immediate relief from his symptoms, praise God! He was recovering well from surgery, and so less than 24 hours after his operation, we were able to take him home. He spent the next eight weeks, recovering at home until it was safe for him to start treatment for his cancer.

Originally, his treatment plan was going to consist of chemo and radiation, but we were fortunate enough to have been offered another option that is safer for his brain and better targets the cancerous cells through proton radiation therapy. Proton therapy is a radiation treatment that precisely delivers a beam of protons to disrupt and destroy tumor cells. Compared with traditional radiation, it allows doctors to better target radiation to the size and shape of the tumor. The proton beam kills the tumor cells and spares more of the surrounding healthy tissue.

Proton radiation isn't widely available and the only hospital in the northeast that offers it is Mass General. Because of this, it's also costly at $10,000 per treatment session. Dad's treatment plan consists of proton radiation every day, five days a week, and although insurance covers some of it, it doesn't cover all of it. His proton therapy will be for a total of 33 treatments and medical bills are already starting to pile up. After proton radiation, Dad will also go through another 9 months of chemotherapy and radiation, which will be additional costs. The journey is far from over and our family would really appreciate anything you have on your heart to give.

Thank you so much to all the people who have prayed for Dad and have supported our family with your prayers! Please keep praying as Dad continues down the path of recovery and thank you so much for your generosity! Anything is appreciated and God bless you!