Help send 11 year old Joseph to the Mayo Clinic

Hello everyone, my name is Val and I’m starting this page on behalf of my grandson Joseph and his family. Joseph is a quiet boy who likes to play with his friends, tease his 3 sisters, and play video games. Around April Joseph started experiencing eye pain and swelling on his eyelid accompanied by headaches. Joseph was taken to the optometrist who then referred him to an ophthalmologist. After a series of tests and scans it was determined to possibly be a benign tumour on his lacrimal gland. On May 11 Joseph had it surgically removed and the wait for pathology began.

The mass removed is from a very rare cancer called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the lacrimal gland. He needs to go to the Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for 6-8 weeks for Proton Beam radiation therapy as it is the safest form of radiation therapy for his eye. Because he is still growing the doctors don’t want to risk Photon therapy because of any scatter radiation. We are waiting on the results on his CT scan of the chest to make sure it hasn’t spread to his lungs. Because this cancer is so rare there is not a lot of information out there on treatment plans or behaviour of the disease as it is typically occurs in middle aged men.

During the last few weeks, Joseph’s parents, Chris and Trista have missed quite a lot of work. Additionally only one parents travel is covered so his dad will have to stay home with his 3 siblings while they go to the US. My hope is to raise enough funds that there is no need for them to worry about how they are going to pay normal bills while also having the expense of this medical trip. This is going to have a massive effect on the entire family and his ability to be a “normal” kid. At 11 years old you should be worrying about who will be riding bikes with you after school not cancer treatments, surgeries, etc. We’re asking for any financial help to support them through this tough time and any future procedures Joseph may need.