My name is Ciera Garrett.

On March 2nd, 2025, my husband Christian went to the ER after having back pain and other symptoms for a few years. They gave him a CT scan and discovered a 5-inch mass inside his abdomen. A biopsy revealed he had stage 3 testicular cancer, and the cancer had spread to his psoas muscle, growing into a germ cell tumor. The tumor had fully suppressed his kidney function on his right side, and a nephrostomy tube was placed in hopes of saving his kidney before starting chemotherapy.

He has just completed his 4th and (hopefully) final chemo cycle, and the treatments seem to be successful in bringing his tumor markers down! He will still need surgery at the end of July, and recovery from the surgery will take anywhere from 6-12 weeks. He will need the tumor, a testicle, a lymph node near the tumor, and potentially his spleen and kidney removed during this procedure. The doctor will not know if the spleen and kidney will need to be taken until Christian is on the operating table.

Christian has not been able to work, and we have reached the end of the FMLA payments he was approved for. We have applied for short-term disability, but it is a process that takes longer than we both realized. I am currently working, but can't manage a second job with our kids and taking care of Christian after work as well as our household. Our youngest has special needs, and child care is another expense we simply can't afford at the moment.

This is difficult to ask for help, as we have tried our best to be self sufficient and Christian has always been our main provider and supporter. This has been hard on him as a husband and father, on top of the physical changes his body has been going through.

We are hoping for any support we can receive in this time of need, to ease the strain of bills, and our rent until Christian is in remission and has a clean bill of health to go back to work.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭11‬:‭24

“When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.””

‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭4‬ ‭