Help Marcus swim past brain cancer!
Donation protected
Update, December 2019: Marcus's insurance situation has taken a change for the better thanks to the generous donations from the wonderful people who responded to Marcus's plea for help below. As a result, we've decided to halt this fundraiser and launch another with a much reduced target goal of $35,000. The new fundraiser can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/1tq35mnslc. As before, please donate if you can or pass on to as many family, friends, and colleagues as possible... and together, we can help Marcus swim past brain cancer!!
================ Original Plea Below (out-of-date) ================
[This is a long read, but you'll learn what our family and Marcus are going through and at the end of the day your contributions will make an IMPACT. God bless.]
Marcus is a 14 year old boy who, instead of dreaming of sugar-plums in the lead up to Christmas, had to learn a horrible new phrase: Mixed Malignant Germ Cell Tumor, better known as brain cancer. Tragically, young Marcus’s parents fall into the gap of uninsured Americans, along with 27 million of their fellow Americans (more than the entire population of Australia!) who don’t make enough to afford health insurance but make too much to qualify for Medicaid or CHIP. Although Marcus’s brain cancer is a rare form, his prognosis is good if treated. But since brain cancer is /the/ most expensive form of cancer to treat, costing nearly $700,000 by some estimates, there is simply no way Marcus’s parents can afford to give their son the treatment he so desperately needs to live.
Marcus’s fate is dire but together, with your help, we can give Marcus the Christmas he deserves. Help us give his family a Christmas Miracle!
About Marcus:
============
Marcus Bridges is a remarkable kid. He is among the most thoughtful, caring, and kind boys you could ever hope to meet. His sweet nature and genuine innocence shine through in everything he does and in every question he asks. Marcus is the kind of person who always puts others before himself. This young boy strives to be the best person he can be... and succeeds. He is an honor roll student, an aspiring member of his school’s swim team, and at home he helps his parents with chores around the house. Marcus loves competitive swimming and hopes to be good enough someday to proudly hold up a medal for his mom and dad!
Finding out about cancer:
====================
In late November of 2019, after several days of headaches and nausea that he and his family thought might just be a bad cold, Marcus woke with a debilitating migraine and his left eye pointing in the wrong direction. Frightened, his parents rushed him to the emergency room, where scans showed a build-up of fluid in his brain, pressing behind his eye.
Marcus immediately underwent surgery to remove a piece of bone from his skull to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure, but his eye had already been damaged. Back in the recovery room, the wonderful staff at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas then had the awful task of telling the family that the scans also showed a tumor growing against the pineal gland in Marcus’s brain, and that a sample of it had been sent for analysis.
The following photo shows the scan of the tumor near the base of his spinal cord, and Marcus feeling a little better after the surgery, but dazed and unsure of what is happening to him:
After several terrifying days of waiting, the family’s hopes for a good outcome were dashed as an oncologist sadly explained the results of the biopsy and confirmed what they had all feared: Marcus had brain cancer, a rare mixed malignant germ cell tumor. Selfless as ever, Marcus tried to comfort the family members as they cried and struggled to accept the news of his diagnosis.
This heartbreaking photo, taken at home just after being given the diagnosis, shows a little boy in the arms of his daddy, both terrified as the awful truth sinks in:
But not all hope is lost!
==================
"Mixed malignant germ cell tumor" sounds grim, but the great news is that 80% of those who are treated survive it. Marcus is young and strong, dearly loved and supported by his family, both immediate and extended, and will FIGHT hard to make a recovery. Marcus has a very good chance to beat this cancer!
But only with YOUR HELP, because Marcus’s family is not wealthy and can’t afford the cost of the treatment he must endure. They work hard to make a living and to care for Marcus and his brother. But expenses take a heavy toll on their working-class paychecks: rent, food, utility bills, school costs, gasoline, car insurance and payments… hardly anything’s left after it’s all paid. Adding health insurance for a family of four on top of all that is simply more than they can bear. Even the reduced premium to cover just one child is beyond their reach.
More unfortunately still, none of Marcus's extended family – neither aunts, uncles nor elderly grandparents – are wealthy either. But that won’t stop them from pitching in as much as they can!
Marcus needs expensive chemotherapy drugs, and radiation therapy for at least seven months. He will have an IV in his arm for every visit, or even surgery to insert an infusaport catheter. During his treatment, he will take extra medications to try to prevent secondary infections, and to try to keep the chemo from making him nauseous and sick. He will likely lose his hair, have digestive problems, and may suffer heart, liver, kidneys, or other organ damage that will require additional medical treatment.
No doubt about it, Marcus has a hard time ahead of him. But with your generous donations, we can give this incredible child a fighting chance at a long life. And what a life he will make for himself! Full of love and care, this little boy is worth saving :)
Please help us give Marcus’s family a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, help us save Marcus !!
Your donations will be most graciously received, and eternally appreciated! And don't forget, your donations are protected by GoFundMe's Guarantee.
Let’s all help Marcus “swim past brain cancer” !!!
God bless you all.
================ Original Plea Below (out-of-date) ================
[This is a long read, but you'll learn what our family and Marcus are going through and at the end of the day your contributions will make an IMPACT. God bless.]
Marcus is a 14 year old boy who, instead of dreaming of sugar-plums in the lead up to Christmas, had to learn a horrible new phrase: Mixed Malignant Germ Cell Tumor, better known as brain cancer. Tragically, young Marcus’s parents fall into the gap of uninsured Americans, along with 27 million of their fellow Americans (more than the entire population of Australia!) who don’t make enough to afford health insurance but make too much to qualify for Medicaid or CHIP. Although Marcus’s brain cancer is a rare form, his prognosis is good if treated. But since brain cancer is /the/ most expensive form of cancer to treat, costing nearly $700,000 by some estimates, there is simply no way Marcus’s parents can afford to give their son the treatment he so desperately needs to live.
Marcus’s fate is dire but together, with your help, we can give Marcus the Christmas he deserves. Help us give his family a Christmas Miracle!
About Marcus:
============
Marcus Bridges is a remarkable kid. He is among the most thoughtful, caring, and kind boys you could ever hope to meet. His sweet nature and genuine innocence shine through in everything he does and in every question he asks. Marcus is the kind of person who always puts others before himself. This young boy strives to be the best person he can be... and succeeds. He is an honor roll student, an aspiring member of his school’s swim team, and at home he helps his parents with chores around the house. Marcus loves competitive swimming and hopes to be good enough someday to proudly hold up a medal for his mom and dad!
Finding out about cancer:
====================
In late November of 2019, after several days of headaches and nausea that he and his family thought might just be a bad cold, Marcus woke with a debilitating migraine and his left eye pointing in the wrong direction. Frightened, his parents rushed him to the emergency room, where scans showed a build-up of fluid in his brain, pressing behind his eye.
Marcus immediately underwent surgery to remove a piece of bone from his skull to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure, but his eye had already been damaged. Back in the recovery room, the wonderful staff at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas then had the awful task of telling the family that the scans also showed a tumor growing against the pineal gland in Marcus’s brain, and that a sample of it had been sent for analysis.
The following photo shows the scan of the tumor near the base of his spinal cord, and Marcus feeling a little better after the surgery, but dazed and unsure of what is happening to him:
After several terrifying days of waiting, the family’s hopes for a good outcome were dashed as an oncologist sadly explained the results of the biopsy and confirmed what they had all feared: Marcus had brain cancer, a rare mixed malignant germ cell tumor. Selfless as ever, Marcus tried to comfort the family members as they cried and struggled to accept the news of his diagnosis.
This heartbreaking photo, taken at home just after being given the diagnosis, shows a little boy in the arms of his daddy, both terrified as the awful truth sinks in:
But not all hope is lost!
==================
"Mixed malignant germ cell tumor" sounds grim, but the great news is that 80% of those who are treated survive it. Marcus is young and strong, dearly loved and supported by his family, both immediate and extended, and will FIGHT hard to make a recovery. Marcus has a very good chance to beat this cancer!
But only with YOUR HELP, because Marcus’s family is not wealthy and can’t afford the cost of the treatment he must endure. They work hard to make a living and to care for Marcus and his brother. But expenses take a heavy toll on their working-class paychecks: rent, food, utility bills, school costs, gasoline, car insurance and payments… hardly anything’s left after it’s all paid. Adding health insurance for a family of four on top of all that is simply more than they can bear. Even the reduced premium to cover just one child is beyond their reach.
More unfortunately still, none of Marcus's extended family – neither aunts, uncles nor elderly grandparents – are wealthy either. But that won’t stop them from pitching in as much as they can!
Marcus needs expensive chemotherapy drugs, and radiation therapy for at least seven months. He will have an IV in his arm for every visit, or even surgery to insert an infusaport catheter. During his treatment, he will take extra medications to try to prevent secondary infections, and to try to keep the chemo from making him nauseous and sick. He will likely lose his hair, have digestive problems, and may suffer heart, liver, kidneys, or other organ damage that will require additional medical treatment.
No doubt about it, Marcus has a hard time ahead of him. But with your generous donations, we can give this incredible child a fighting chance at a long life. And what a life he will make for himself! Full of love and care, this little boy is worth saving :)
Please help us give Marcus’s family a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, help us save Marcus !!
Your donations will be most graciously received, and eternally appreciated! And don't forget, your donations are protected by GoFundMe's Guarantee.
Let’s all help Marcus “swim past brain cancer” !!!
God bless you all.
Organizer
Lance Luvaul
Organizer
Grandville, MI
