Help Tom Pendlebury Fight Leukemia
Everyone who has met Tom has quickly fallen in love with him or found him unbearable. You either love him or you dislike him, but either way you respect him. He is a stubborn hot head who likes to fight, always be right, loves being the center of attention, and works hard every single day. I think anyone who has the pleasure of knowing Tom quickly recognizes how hard he works for his family to provide opportunities that he and my mom didn’t have. Our winters were filled with skiing and summers with dirt biking and camping. He never missed a chance to teach us something new, to prank/scare us, or help us face our fears. Tom is the best grandpa ever to his grandson, granddaughter and new grandchild arriving in September on his 56th birthday! His entire life has been dedicated to his family, friends, and brotherhood.
Being a veteran, our dad has always known how to fight and never give up. He’s shown a constant strength throughout our lives that we didn’t know would benefit us so much today. In May, he began his biggest fight yet.
On Tuesday, May 18th, Tom was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia one day after going into the hospital for what he thought was a heart attack. To his surprise, his body only had 60% of its blood capacity and markers for Leukemia.
He started his first round of chemotherapy at the Vancouver General Hospital on May 20th and began weekly blood transfusions. In true Tom fashion, he finished his first round of chemotherapy with a boom and a bang when he needed emergency surgery for appendicitis and then developed a full body rash from multiple things his body decided it now wanted to be allergic to. Our dad has always found a way to be the center of attention! However, after finishing this stint of treatment his cancer was still active.
On Friday, June 11th, Tom started his second round of chemotherapy. His wife was also finally granted visitation access to the hospital and was able to spend a few hours with him every day. He looked forward to his daily visit with our mom and chicken burger lunch day. His doctors called this round the sledgehammer as it is the most aggressive type of chemo they have. Tom handled chemotherapy like a champion. I’ve been in a constant state of awe watching his strength and determination while in the hospital. Unfortunately, this round of chemotherapy was also unsuccessful.
On Wednesday, June 30th, Tom’s doctors informed our parents that they would be discharging him from the cancer ward and placing him into the out-patient program. A lot of uncertainty came with this announcement, but our parents looked forward to being together under the same roof again and for the possibility of their children being able to visit after months of not seeing each other in person.
On Friday, July 2nd, his doctors informed him and my mom that he has a 2–5-month life expectancy left. His care team has one final tool in their toolbox to help our dad. However, this treatment only holds a 20-30% success rate at saving his life. His final round of treatment involves injecting chemotherapy into his stomach and using an enhancing pill to assist the chemo in attacking the proteins in the cancer cells within his blood stream. Unfortunately, this pill is not approved in British Columbia and MSP and Pharma Care do not cover the cost. My parents will be paying $7000 a month for the pills in his final fight against Leukemia.
To assist our parents financially as neither of them have worked since his diagnosis and our mom has been living in Vancouver and travelling back and forth to check on their home and children in Kamloops, we want to help relieve the pressures of this monthly cost.
Donated funds will be used to cover the cost of his monthly treatment, and any remaining funds will be donated to Honour House in Vancouver. Our mom and dad will be moving into Honour House on Sunday, July 4th to be closer to the hospital.
If no changes are seen in his cancer after 2 months of treatment, our dad will be placed on end-of-life care. If changes are seen in his cancer after the first 2 months, he will continue this treatment method for another 3-4 months until he reaches remission and then a bone marrow transplant will be next for him. At $7000 a month for his medication, my parents have a number of expensive medical bills in front of them. Any support, whether it is messages, donations, prayers, or good vibes are greatly cherished and appreciated as we navigate our way into these crucial next two months with our beloved husband, father, and friend.
With gratitude,
Natascha (wife), and Jessica, Natalie, Lena, Joshua and Emily (children)
