UPDATE: 3/10/26

-Derek currently has two potentially deadly infections in his spinal cord, along with IDH Mutant or Astrocytoma, which is a brain cancer that there is currently no cure for. On top of all of this, he has developed 3 masses on and in his liver. With his current regimen of over 20 pills a day, driving to Lexington for appointments 6-8x a week and to Vanderbilt often, as well being a Dad and continuing his duties there, the financial burden has been significant. He has been fighting disability which feels like a losing battle for 2 years. -

Derek has been facing an ongoing battle with brain cancer and other medical issues. Most recently, he learned that he has a severe infection on his spinal cord, a cancerous tumor in his brain, as well as his liver. He has had to have a PICC line put in, and will be down for at least 8-10 weeks, if not longer. Insurance is being a pain and not wanting to cover many parts of his treatment, including home health, which is causing him to have to stay in the hospital, and miss valuable time with his son and best friend, Jayden.

Unfortunately, nothing can be done as far as treatment for cancer until the infection is gone. He could really use some help right now to ease the financial burden and focus on healing through his treatments. If you feel led to donate, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to him. Thanks in advance!

From Derek- Anything helps. My boy is counting on me & I can’t be 110% with all the stress & illness, especially the concern of the total cost of transportation to & from appointments to the oncologist, neurologist/neurosurgeon, infectious disease doctors, along with all the other doctors & appointments ; there’s too many to list as well as getting him to/from school. That’s not including cost of co pays & certain medicines my insurance will not completely cover. Just to even have a small sense of normality again would be nice and I can achieve all the goals set by my doctors. The financial part is very hard, yes; my health issues are even harder. With the stress of everything else it will only get worse & there’s no way I’ll show any signs of progression just from the stress of everything else alone.. I love and appreciate all of ya. Thank you.