Hi everyone,

In July of 2025, I thought my cancer journey was completed. I finished chemo, had lymph node dissection surgery, and the results were no live cancer cells. However, when I had my 6-month follow-up CT scan in December, it showed there was activity. After further testing, I was diagnosed with recurrence of the same germ cell tumor on lymph nodes in the same area as before.

During this time, I started experiencing severe lower abdomen and back pain, different from last time. Pain started shooting down my legs and I started experiencing shortness of breath, which required me to take a couple of trips to the ER. Scans revealed that swollen lymph nodes were pressing down on 2 main veins in my pelvis.

In January, we met with the cancer team at University of Chicago Medicine and they immediately planned for a more aggressive type of chemo treatment this time. In February, I completed 2 cycles of salvage chemotherapy, which required me to be hospitalized for a few nights. On March 9th, I started the next phase, which was stem cell harvesting. They removed my stem cells through my blood to freeze for later. It's prepping me for what the next step of treatment is going to be.

​At the beginning of April, I’ll start high-dose chemotherapy. It’s a much more intense treatment designed to completely clear out the cancer, but it also clears out my healthy blood cells in the process. I’ll spend about two weeks in the hospital while my white blood cell count drops to zero and the doctors begin 'rebooting' my system by putting my harvested stem cells back into my body. ​I’ll get to recover at home for a couple of weeks between rounds, but I’ll need to repeat this entire cycle two more times. If my body recovers well between these hits, I’m hoping to be finished by July.

I’ve been asked a few times about a GoFundMe, and while we weren't planning to start one this time, the reality of being out of work since February 10th has changed things. With a long treatment road ahead and missing both my job and my band performances, we realized that any bit of extra help goes a long way. My wife, my son, and I thank you for even considering supporting us.

-Ray