Dear friends,
I’m writing today with a heavy heart and a hopeful spirit. For 25 years, Tim Breen has been one of my closest friends—a constant source of laughter, loyalty, and strength. We’ve shared life’s milestones together, and now he’s facing one of the hardest chapters yet.
Recently, Tim was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and the impact has been devastating. His medical costs are overwhelming. Despite his courage and resilience, the financial strain is making it harder for him to focus on healing.
That’s why I’m reaching out. We’ve set up a fundraiser to help cover his medical bills, treatments, and basic living expenses. Our goal is $35,000, and every contribution—no matter the size—will make a real difference.
If you’ve ever known the comfort of a true friend, or if you simply want to help someone who’s fighting for their health and dignity, I invite you to join us. Your kindness and generosity will help lift a burden and remind Tim Breen and his family that he’s not alone.
In April of 2024 Tim went to the emergency room with jaundice. This began his journey that would lead him to a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer - one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Over the next 19 months Tim was hospitalized twice with two life threatening blood infections, experienced a helicopter airlift from Columbia, MO (just to add to the excitement they delivered him to the wrong hospital). Tim has also undergone about a dozen procedures/surgeries and has completed 3 cycles of chemotherapy. In October of 2024 Tim went in for a complicated 12 hour Whipple Surgery. They were able to remove his gallbladder as planned. But were unable to complete the remainder of the procedure because his tumor had adhered to the anterior side of his vena cava vein and was deemed non-resectable.
The next phase would be a targeted radiation & chemotherapy combination. Tim has sampled many emergency rooms and hospitals in the St. Louis area (they certainly learned who has the best food!) Tim and his family are incredibly grateful for all the medical teams and staff that have helped him through this.
He has been blessed with feeling well enough at times to be able to enjoy doing the things he loves, especially since he handled chemotherapy better than most. However, as they did not expect, this journey has been much longer and full of more surprises than anyone could have anticipated. This has created far more of a financial burden than they could have foreseen.
Three weeks ago Tim had a series of strokes. This did cause a speech impairment which he has worked hard at recovering from and made great progress. This past Saturday Tim was admitted to Barnes hospital downtown for several ongoing complications with his cancer. They hope he will be able to go home in a couple of days.
Tim’s family and friends have been incredibly generous and thoughtful in offering help and support during the last year and a half. We have started a go fund me page to help alleviate the stresses of the ongoing financial burdens.
Any contribution you may be able to make big or small is helpful, meaningful, and sincerely appreciated. You can also help just by forwarding this information onto others or posting on social media. Please keep Tim and his family in your continued thoughts and prayers.
Thank you for reading, for caring, and for standing with us.
With Gratitude-
The Breen Family