Help Curtis and Emily with his cancer treatment

On January 22 Curtis was taken into hospital with what was suspected appendicitis. Tests were quickly done and preparations were beginning to be made for surgery that day. Little did we know at the time but a surgeon at the Nanaimo Hospital reviewed his scans and correctly diagnosed him with an extremely rare (roughly one in a million) form of appendix cancer that had progressed to Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP) Cancer. A cancer where mucinous tumors spread into the abdominal cavity. Since this initial diagnosis Curtis has undergone a plethora of scans and additional tests to confirm this diagnosis and has been referred to an appendix and peritoneal cancer specialist group in Vancouver.

On March 14 he had his first surgery, an Ileocecal Resection to remove his cecum and appendix. The surgeon was very pleased with how this went. However upon returning home he was hit with complications and was rushed back to the hospital where he spent 3 days and 2 nights recovering and under observation.

The next step in treatment involves an extremely invasive surgery and procedure known as CRS/HIPEC. This procedure averages 9 hours in length with some cases taking 24 hours to be successful. Due to the length, danger and invasiveness it has been dubbed the Mother of all Surgeries (MOAS) by doctors. This post surgery recovery includes approx 14 days in hospital with a 3 month recovery time once home. Once he is home he will be on a return to walking program with a therapist several days a week.

We are reaching out for assistance financially to help Curtis during his recovery period, as he will be on an intense physiotherapy program following the surgery. Due to this illness he has also been unable to work for the past several months. Money donated would be put towards physiotherapy, household bills and other expenses that accrue due to his diagnosis.

For those of you who know Curtis know he is typically an active guy. He can usually be found on the golf course, in the trails on his mountain bike, running marathons, hiking mountains, playing all sports from soccer, to volleyball and baseball with his friends. All we can hope for is a successful and speedy recovery so he can get back to being his active and outdoorsy self