Help Max with a Wish

Max Schuetz is a teenager that I connected with as a counselor at a camp for kids dealing with cancer. He and his single mom, Bobbi, have been fighting his cancer his whole life. He is now in the later stages of glioblastoma, a terminal brain cancer. Here is his story summarized by his mother, Bobbi:

“Max first had ALL (leukemia) when he was 22 months old. He went through 4 years of treatment, and was considered cured for 14 months. He went to kindergarten like a normal kid, but relapsed in June, and we went back to Denver. We wanted a bone marrow transplant, but couldn't find a match. He finally got a stem-cell transplant from a delivered baby from Australia in February, two days before his 7th birthday, with a controversial 4/6 match. He missed all of first grade, and the first half of second grade. He was then considered cured again. 

He was in line for the 4th of July parade with the mustang he was training in 2019, when he went down with a massive seizure. It turned out to be Glioblastoma, which is terminal. That tumor was inoperable, and he was given with 8 - 15 months to live. They did radiation, which caused all sorts of problems from the swelling and inflammation, to the point he couldn't walk or feed himself. He was put on massive doses of steroids, and gained a ton of weight. He's recovered and even got skinny. He still has mild confusion and some tremors, but he can take care of his personal needs again.



He's been getting follow-up MRIs every three months, and September 2020, there was a new tumor. They were able to operate and remove that one, then more radiation, but we were able to be pro-active, and avoid the inflammation. He was then given a prognosis of another 6 - 12 months. 

He's doing pretty okay overall, but things are starting to change noticeably. He has tried going to school a little, but has given up. He can't do the work. The school is super supportive, but there's also been a couple Covid outbreaks, and I'm happy to keep him home. He just misses his friends. He's clearly defying the odds. He was initially put on a new oral chemo, and he's about to try another one, based on the new tumor tests. I'm sure that's what's kept him alive this long. His next MRI is February 19th. Max's birthday is February 11th, and he'll be 17 in years, but he looks and has the maturity of maybe 14. He's still very much a kid. The saddest thing, is that his biggest fear wasn't dying, but being "damaged". Unfortunately, brain cancer is very damaging. He's been having increased tremors, despite increasing his seizure meds. He seems to just give up on trying to speak sentences when it gets hard, and he's confused most of the time.”

So Max had another MRI on February 19th and that news was bad:
“MRI results were my worst fears confirmed. There's no stopping it at this point. The new chemo may be able to slow things slightly. I asked if we could still plan anything, and it was encouraged, as he's still very functional and strong. Nobody knows how long, but things progressed a lot in the last two months, so probably not very.”

So the reason I’m sharing Max’s story is we want to fulfill a dream of his. His goal for last year had been to make it to the 2021 Sky High Hope Camp. Unfortunately, that has been canceled again this year due to COVID. So I asked Bobbi if there was some dream of his we could try to make happen. She shared this: “His ultimate fantasy is to go sailing on a pirate ship - as part of Crew -  for several days.” We found the perfect ship and trip for them from Bilbao, Spain, to Amsterdam.


But that trip doesn’t sail until May 27 and Bobbi doesn’t think we have that much time.  So we’re going to shoot for for sending them on the same boat but a shorter trip that sails just off Spain in early April.

Because he was sponsored by a wish fulfillment organization when he was young, he is not eligible for most of them now. So we are taking it on ourselves to try to make this happen for Max.  Any excess or leftover funds will go to Bobbi for her future needs. 

Bobbi is trying to give Max the fullest life he can have. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. And remember to appreciate every day we are given.