Michael DeVere’s Funeral Fund

On the night of November 6th, 2019 Michael called Deanna out of the blue late one evening and was hardly able to speak, he was able to convey he thought he was having a stroke. (He had even called her first before calling 911.) He was quickly rushed to the hospital; this all came as a huge shock since Michael was only 64 and has always been extremely healthy and active as far as we knew. That night Deanna rushed to meet him at the hospital and walked in the moment the ER doctor was delivering the news that Michael had actually experienced a seizure due to tumors in the brain. This night was the beginning of a long and enduring fight. 

Within the next day or so he was officially diagnosed with stage 4 non-small cell lung cancer that had metastasized to the brain, bones, lymph nodes, and liver. His immediate diagnosis was about 3-6 months to live with no real treatment plan available at the time. However, Michael and Deanna had a different idea to how all of this was going to happen. 

From the moment Michael’s diagnosis came back, Deanna made it adamantly clear that she wanted to be Michael’s caretaker as he fights his battle with lung cancer…. And she did just that. Deanna completely shifted her entire life, including moving with her father to a new apartment that was close to his doctors and treatment facilities.  

Once settled in, Michael and Deanna set out to find perhaps a second opinion or someone with a different treatment plan. They were able to find a new oncologist that took a more aggressive approach and ran enough tests to find out he actually had a EGFR mutation, which made him the perfect candidate for a newer type of immunotherapy as opposed to chemotherapy and radiation. Michael was then able to start and remain on his immunotherapy treatment for about 7 1/2 months! During this time, he was actually in remission for a while, with both the size of his tumors shrinking and no new indications of new ones for the time being. 

He had already made it past his original life expectancy at that point. However, In July of 2020, his routine scans unfortunately showed signs of progression, his immunotherapy was no longer working and things from then on would need to take a much harsher approach through the means of chemotherapy and radiation. This is truly where Michael’s battle with cancer began. 

If there was one thing constant through all this, it was Michael’s determination and will to not only challenge but also beat this cancer… he approached this news with an absolute “BRING IT ON!” attitude.

During this Deanna stood by his side as his primary caretaker every step of the way, from every doctors visit, scan, treatment, and every, especially every horrible side effect.  It has genuinely been the both of them, Michael and Deanna, hand in hand, through it all. Michael fought hard and never even complained through these rigorous treatments for another 7 whole months!

However, his cancer did continue to progress; further weakening his body and landing him in the hospital a couple of times. Ultimately his progression would leave no more room for treatment options.  It was at this point that Michael would enter hospice care and was able to remain at home with Deanna who provided comfort care until he would pass on the morning of January 24th, 2021. 

Unfortunately, Deanna and Michael were not able to complete a bucket list or go do those memorable things they had planned to do; seeing as only a couple months into his diagnosis we all hit a worldwide pandemic. With Michael being at the very top of the immunocompromised list, this made everything that much harder. Deanna lost her job due to the risk of potentially getting infected at work could compromise the health of her father. They were truly isolated and pretty much stuck inside their home for the entirety of this year long struggle with cancer. The timing of everything was terrible, but this did not ever once hinder Michael’s spirits into his fight. Deanna did such a great job of being extremely—and yet maybe even overly—cautious, that Michael often forgot there was even a pandemic outside of the walls of their home!

This now unfortunately leaves Deanna at the age of 22, to tie up many of the loose ends without a real source of income. The purpose of this GoFundMe is to help Deanna cover some of the costs that will be coming her way as things start to settle. This $2000 goal will help Deanna cover the costs of Michael’s arrangements and memorial, pay to keep Michael’s storage units filled with family heirlooms and memories until Deanna is emotionally ready to sort through them, and also help keep food on Deanna’s plate and a roof over her head as well. 
This money that is donated to this page will be going directly to Deanna’s bank account. Every contribution matters so much and if you can help in anyway, it will be very much appreciated. Please keep your thoughts and prayers with Deanna as she navigates this difficult time.