Help Kirk Beat Grade 4 Glioblastoma

On January 31st, my dad Facetimed me and I knew something wasn't right. He was having a hard time remembering and forming words; much less connecting a train of thought. I called my sister and we both agreed, he needed to go to the ER.

On February 1st my mom called off work to take him to Westfield Memorial Hospital. We all thought at the *worst* he had suffered a mini stroke, and we'd be able to get ahead of it so nothing bad happened again.

We don't know why, but God had other plans in store for my dad's journey.

After a long few days with no concrete diagnosis at St Vincent's Hospital in Erie, PA; we prayed and felt led to transfer my dad to Allegheny General in Pittsburgh.

On February 9th, we got the worst news of all: my dad had a grade 4 glioblastoma. Simply put, it is a highly aggressive primary brain tumor (that means it started in the brain and doesn't metastasize to anywhere else but the brain). There was one confirmed mass in his frontal lobe; which explained his ongoing issue with remembering and forming words. He also has a smaller lesion in his thalamus region that will have to be managed via radiation because of its location.

On February 10th; he went in for a craniotomy to resect the larger mass. The neurosurgeon called us after the surgery was complete and said, "It went great; really couldn't have gone any better. I'd consider this a gross total resection." 

Praise God for that wonderful news; but our journey with this ugly diagnosis is far from over.

As of right now; my dad is in recovery.  He faces possible weeks (if not months) of speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. 

On top of that, we anticipate he will be starting aggressive chemoradiation at the beginning of March to rid his body of any cancer cells that weren't caught during the resection and address the smaller remaining mass in his thalamus.

My parents do have insurance; but they gave us a hard time about authorizing his trip to Pittsburgh; so we anticipate more issues down the road. Right now, we are just focused on getting my dad the best treatment, and not letting insurance or money determine his level of care.

On top of medical bills from his hospital stays, we anticipate having to pay out of pocket for some if not all of his therapy during recovery, chemoradiation, and possible immunotherapy or further specialized treatment. 

My dad lost his job at the paper route because of this; and because my mom will need to be his primary caregiver, her job may be up in the air.

We are raising money to:

1. Assist with potential medical bills from the hospital stay up to this point

2. Have money set aside for further treatment as financial needs arise

3. Help my parents keep up with their regular monthly expenses

4. Show them how much they are loved and cared about

If you can't contribute; then please just pray. One prayer alone seems to be worth its weight in gold. We ask that you pray for healing. Pray that the worst is now behind us. Pray that my dad gets a second chance and a fresh start at a new life.

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

James 5:14-15