Help Tom’s Family

UPDATE 7 (last update): Unfortunately this is our final update for everyone. Tomasz Olemski passed away on May 29, 2024 at the age of 47. It has been a long tough fight over the past 8 years, and Tom can now finally get the rest and peace he deserves.

Thank you everyone for your donations and messages over the years. Your support helped to keep Tom motivated to spend as much time as possible with his family. It’s hard to believe that his children are now 15 & 11 and have been gifted the opportunity to make as many memories as possible with him.

It is an incredibly difficult time of adjustment for all of our families. Any and all future funds are going directly towards his funeral that is taking place this Thursday June 6th.

PREVIOUS UPDATES:

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UPDATE #6: Thank you to everyone who has been so incredibly generous with their donations and sharing on social media. Tom was able to complete 10 treatments. After the first few, he felt great and his doctors were optimistic with his test results and MRIs. Unfortunately, things did take a turn and the treatments were no longer helping, but were hurting Tom. He could not eat as he was in incredible pain and making him extremely uncomfortable. After his 10th treatment, Tom lost his balance, fell and hit his head. After going to the hospital, an MRI showed that he had developed more tumors on the opposite of his brain, meaning both sides had tumours present. This is what was causing him to feel so dizzy and lose his balance. Essentially, this pressure on both sides has caused him to be disoriented, unable to get out of bed, hold any kind of balance and is wheelchair bound. At the advice of his doctors, he will not be continuing any kind of treatment and there is no further treatment that can be explored. At this point, our entire family is simply trying to make him as comfortable and at peace until the inevitable end. This is not what we wanted to be writing but it is the unfortunate truth of the matter. Any further donations will help to cover medications for pain control and future funeral bills, as he doesn't have life insurance. Thank you again for the continued love and support through this difficult time.

UPDATE #5 (2023-Nov-05): I would like to start out by thanking everyone that has donated and has reached out about Tom’s health. The previous donations helped cover his special diet plans he had to strictly follow, travel to Toronto for doctor’s appointments and treatments, as well as the supplements and vitamins he had to take to keep himself strong for the long and grueling fight with cancer. It has been just about 7 and a half years since Tom’s first diagnosis. He has been fighting for his life this whole time: multiple seizures, 3 brain surgeries, countless chemo and radiation sessions, and hundreds of hours of doctor’s appointments. We found out earlier this year that not only has his brain tumor started growing again, it had multiplied into 3 separate tumors. He has been unable to work and drive this whole time. He has had to avoid family functions, seeing friends and even going in public because of excessive noise. Tom has been unable to get out of his bed some days and has completely lost his vision in his left peripherals.

Unfortunately, Tom’s fight with cancer continues due to the fast growing and multiplying tumor. He had his 3rd brain surgery this past July, followed by intense daily radiation sessions for 6 weeks. Due to the intense treatments, Tom has extreme swelling and has to take very strong steroids and pain medication. He ended up in the hospital over and over again due to unbearable pain.

We have all been praying and staying positive. At his last check up at The Princess Margaret Hospital, Tom’s doctors mentioned a new drug that is for patients with recurrent Glioblastoma after previous treatment called MVASI. It has a specific type of chemotherapy called lomustine. MVASI makes it harder for tumors to grow by blocking the growth of blood vessels that surround the tumors. It also works by blocking angiogenesis by depriving the tumor of oxygen and other nutrients.

For more information on MVASI, please visit: https://www.mvasi.com/hcp

Unfortunately, MVASI is not covered by OHIP or by insurance and will cost about $2,000 for each treatment. His doctors recommend to start with 4 treatments and to monitor the results. If the drug works well and there are positive results, Tom may continue with more treatments. Essentially, the sooner Tom can start the treatment, the better chances he has at continuing his fight with cancer.

Since Tom cannot work, he is on disability and is unable to afford this treatment with this new drug. He is someone that never gives up on anything. 7 years ago, he was originally given only 2 years to live. We are asking for your donations to get his new chance to continue the fight. Tom wants to continue to raise his two children, be there for them and support them. Attending their sports events and family functions is something he has really missed out on recently. Tom deserves this and his family needs this! Your donations mean the world to us and we are endlessly grateful and thankful. If you are unable to donate, we ask that you please share this page so we can reach as many people as possible. Anything helps!

POLISH:

Wszyscy modlilimy się i jesteśmy dobrej myśli. Podczas ostatniej kontroli w szpitalu Princess Margaret lekarze Tomasza wspomnieli o nowym leku przeznaczonym dla pacjentów z nawrotowym glejakiem wielopostaciowym po wcześniejszym leczeniu, zwanym MVASI. Zawiera specyficzny rodzaj chemioterapii zwany lomustyną. MVASI utrudnia wzrost guzów poprzez blokowanie wzrostu naczyń krwionośnych otaczających guzy. Działa również poprzez blokowanie angiogenezy poprzez pozbawianie guza tlenu i innych składników odżywczych.

Niestety MVASI nie jest objęte OHIP ani ubezpieczeniem i będzie kosztować około 2000$ dolarów za każde leczenie. Lekarze zalecają rozpoczęcie od 4 zabiegów i monitorowanie efektów. Jeśli lek działa dobrze i są pozytywne wyniki, Tom może kontynuować terapię. Zasadniczo im szybciej Tomek rozpocznie leczenie, tym większe ma szanse na kontynuowanie walki z rakiem.

Ponieważ Tomek nie może pracować, jest inwalidą i nie stać go na leczenie nowym lekiem. Jest osobą, która nigdy się nie poddaje. 7 lat temu pierwotnie dano mu tylko 2 lata życia. Prosimy o Wasze datki, aby otrzymał nową szansę na kontynuację walki. Tom chce nadal wychowywać dwójkę swoich dzieci, być przy nich i wspierać je. Uczestnictwo w ich wydarzeniach sportowych i uroczystościach rodzinnych to coś, czego ostatnio naprawdę mu brakowało. Tom na to zasługuje i jego rodzina tego potrzebuje! Twoje datki są dla nas całym światem, za co jesteśmy nieskończenie wdzięczni i wdzięczni. Jeśli nie możesz przekazać darowizny, prosimy o udostępnienie tej strony, abyśmy mogli dotrzeć do jak największej liczby osób. Wszystko pomaga!

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UPDATE #4 (2016-Oct-11): Tom had his last radiation treatment 2 weeks ago and is starting to feel a bit better. His appointment for an MRI is in a few weeks and we will find out if the radiation and chemo have affected the brain tumour at all. We are all praying and staying hopeful. We are also hoping to hear back soon about some clinical trials Tom can try.

Thank you to everyone who has been sharing and to everyone who has donated so far. It really means the world to us. We will post an update as soon as we hear anything from his doctors.

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UPDATE #3 (2016-Jul-31): Thank you everyone for your donations and endless support so far. We wanted to update you on Tom’s progress. It has been confirmed that the tumour is Glioblastoma and in stage IV. This is the worst news that could come with these turn of events. Tom and Izabela are awaiting their consultation for the Burzynski Clinic, and in the meantime they have already visited the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the proposed treatment was only limited to extensive radiation and chemotherapy. At this time, no clinical trials were available for this type of cancer at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Because of this, Tom has been looking for more opinions and will be receiving a consultation from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. We would like to personally thank Amhil Enterprises for funding the travel, accommodations and $7,000 towards starting treatment at Mayo Clinic. To read more about the Mayo Clinic, please visit (www.mayoclinic.org ). We are incredibly grateful for everyone’s love and positivity during these troubling times.

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UPDATE #2 (2016-Jul-21): We are so thankful and blessed for all of the love and support that is coming our way. The Milton Springers (Klaudia's Gymnastics Team) has come forward and will be covering her Gymnastics enrolment. We are speechless about this, considering that this was our initial reason for creating the GoFundMe page. As a result, we will be lowering our pledge amount by $6,000 since Klaudia's gymnastics will be covered. All funds raised will continue to be used towards Tom's treatment as he prepares for the biggest fight of his life. To end this update, here is a message from Tom to everyone:

"To all of those helping me and my family in our difficult time. I am so blessed that I am surrounded by great people, that makes me stronger and I will fight to the end to live and be able to thank all of you for the support. -Tom"

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UPDATE #1 (2016-Jul-19): We are incredibly grateful for all of the donations so far! Our initial goal to support Klaudia's gymnastics is 38% complete! We'd like to thank each and every person who is sharing this page with their friends and family. Tom will be sending personalized messages to all of the donors so far.

After many days of research, our family and Tom have found a clinic in the United States that could provide a strong alternative to chemotherapy at the Burzynski Clinic. We are waiting to hear back about when Tom can be admitted for his first observation at the clinic. Unfortunately as you may know, health care is expensive in the US - especially if you are not a citizen. Due to this, we will be raising our GoFundMe goal to $56,000 in order to help him through his treatment, as well as supporting our initial goal of keeping Klaudia enrolled in her gymnastics.

Again, anything helps us, whether a share or a donation, and so far we are so blessed to see the love and support from those around us.

For those arriving to this page for the first time, please read the full story below.

Thank you!

Beata Grudzinska Taylor, Ken Taylor and The Olemski Family

About The Burzynski Clinic:

"Personalized cancer therapy utilizes an understanding of each patient’s genetic make-up to unravel the biology of their cancer. Using this information, our physicians attempt to identify treatment strategies that may be more effective and cause fewer side effects than would be expected with standard treatments. By performing genetic tests and analyses, our physicians customize treatment to each patient’s needs.

Personalized medicine may include the combination of targeted therapies with conventional therapy. It may also involve the use of investigational agents (Antineoplastons), as approved by the FDA. Patients and/or their caretakers receive training for administering all therapies at home, as well as nutritional counseling."

More Info: http://www.burzynskiclinic.com

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ORIGINAL STORY:

On Sunday, July 3rd, my brother-in-law, Tom, came back from Poland. He went to visit his parents since his mother is batteling lung cancer with only a short amount of time left to live.

Last Tuesday, July 5th, my sister (Izabela) and Tom were having breakfast on their back porch before she was going to leave to open our Indoor Playground while their daughter (Klaudia) sat in the living room playing a game on her iPad. Tom all of a sudden felt like he was going to throw up so he went inside. Before he could make it to the washroom, he collapsed right in front of Klaudia and had a seizure. Klaudia yelled for her mom and when Iza saw what was happening, she called 911.

Tom had lost his memory for the whole morning and didn't know who he was or that he was even in Canada. He forgot how to speak English and could only respond in our native language (Polish). By the afternoon, he started feeling like himself and his memory came back to normal. Tests were done and we found out Tom had developed a brain tumour over the last 6 months or so.

This past Tuesday, July 12th, he had brain surgery to remove the tumour. Unfortunately, the surgeon was not able to remove the entire tumour due to it's size and deep roots. The doctors also informed us that (speaking from experience) Tom could only have 2-6 months of life depending on how the chemo therapy works in a worst case scenario.

Tom is only 39 years old. Iza is 34. They have 2 beautiful children. Klaudia is turning 8 at the end of August and Daniel is turning 4 in 2 weeks.

We are all trying to stay positive, but we know that Iza will have to stop Klaudia's gymnastics. It is going to be too expensive for her to pay for it herself.

I am hoping to raise some money to help her with the payments for Klaudia's gymnastics since she is on the Provincial team and she hopes to be in the Olympics one day representing Canada. Any additional funds raised will be put towards paying their bills since Tom is not able to return to work.

I know it is a long shot, but since her father's health is in jeopardy at such a young age, the gymnastics will help to keep her mind occupied and hopeful for the future. Since she saw her father on the ground of their living room, she has not been the same. She can't sleep and never wants to be alone. I just want her to be happy.

Daniel is too young to understand what is happening. He simply thinks his daddy has a headache and isn't feeling well.

Anything can help. I will be forever thankful.