Fighting for Fenner!

Hi, my name is Danielle, and I'm raising funds for my sister, Emily, & brother-in-law, Dan, and their family. Throughout much of March of this year, Dan complained of stomach pains, and by April, Emily finally talked him into going to the doctor. The bloodwork results came back with high liver values, and they sent him to the ER immediately. He was admitted to a small hospital in Indiana near their home on April 8th where they ran some tests and the CT showed a mass on his pancreas with extensive metastasis to his liver. Dan had surgery to have a stent placed in the bile duct of his liver to help improve his liver functioning; unfortunately, it did not help. Emily and Dan quickly realized this small hospital was not fit to treat him. He was discharged and on April 11th Emily took him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He was admitted and further testing was done at which time his care team decided the stent was actually not needed. He had another procedure to remove the stent and they biopsied the mass on the pancreas. Dan & Emily met with the oncology team and he started chemo right away. They placed a port so he can receive chemo on an outpatient basis. Currently, Dan has an appointment with his oncologist at Northwestern in Chicago every two weeks, at which time they also start his 46-hour chemo infusion. Thankfully he can go home to complete the infusion. Emily and Dan will be following up with another oncologist/surgeon at a different hospital for a second opinion in the near future. Dan's oncologist has reminded us that the poor prognosis/statistics for pancreatic cancer are based on people over the age of 55. Dan has age on his side (34 years young); he is strong and was healthy prior to this, which are all in his favor. He has also recently QUIT smoking and we are so proud of him for that major feat! We know Dan is a fighter and Emily is a strong advocate for him!

Dan is a pipefitter and was working full-time prior to getting sick. Emily returned to work a few months ago after maternity leave but was working part-time so she could also be at home with Evelyn. Since Dan's diagnosis, he is doing his best to continue working, but the more chemo treatments he has, the more fatigued he is. Emily has increased her hours at work to help offset Dan's days off. As Emily recently commented, "We're definitely a two-income household, so we're doing our best to get by."

The money raised through this fundraiser will go directly to Dan & Emily to help with medical bills, gas to get from Indiana to Chicago for his treatments, household bills, and raising three young girls (Oakley age 11, Ramona age 9, and Evelyn age 6 mths).

On behalf of Dan & Emily, we appreciate everyone's support and prayers and couldn't be more thankful for the generosity of family and friends during this difficult time.