Greg, father, brother, son, friend, and port agent of our cargo, was diagnosed in September of 2016 with astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer. He was hospitalized three times and spent time in two different live-in rehab facilities due to medical conditions that this cancer wrought on his body. For a detailed summary of the progress of Greg’s illness, please read his CaringBridge page, however, here is a short overview:

After a biopsy on a tumor on his brain stem at University California San Francisco's hospital in August, Greg was sent to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center for rehab. He received top-notch care at both of these hospitals. It was during his stay at SCVMC that he received a formal diagnosis of astrocytoma from his doctors at UCSF. Upon returning home, he started radiation treatment for the cancer to stop the tumor from growing. The radiation caused parts of his brain to become inflamed so that fluid would not drain properly. He was taken to Good Samaritan hospital, where the doctors discovered that he had hydrocephalus. A shunt was placed in his brain to drain the fluid and he was sent to an assisted nursing and rehab facility for over a month to rehab from the surgery. After this, he was sent home.

At home, he enjoyed a nice Christmas with the family and January with in-home rehab therapies. However, in the beginning of February, he experience a rapid decline. A second stay at Good Samaritan showed that he had hydrocephalus again and that although the shunt is working, not a lot could be done – the fluid was continuing to build in his brain. The difficult decision was made to put Greg in hospice care at home. He currently resides at home under the care of Hospice of the Valley with all of his family.

However, medical bills began to catch up with our family during all of this. Hospitals and rehab centers are expensive! So are his many doctor appointments, in-home rehab therapies, assistive devices, hired caregivers, and hospice care. We, the family, do not regret any choice we made regarding Greg’s care; everything we have done has been to help give Greg the best life possible. That said, when we started in a new year and were hit with a fresh set of deductibles and copayments to meet, we began to realize we would need help with Greg’s medical bills this year. It is not a decision we came to easily – the Kimura family has always shied away from asking for money – but we realize now that we will need help.

We anticipate that, by the end of Dad’s illness, the sum of his medical bills will be somewhere between $20,000-$30,000. We are hoping to raise a one-half to a third of that: $10,000.

All money raised will go to paying Greg’s medical bills. Should we raise more than we need, excess money will be donated to one of Greg’s favorite charities, to be determined. We appreciate any help you give us! Even donating just a few dollars will help us enormously.

If you are unable to donate money, please check out our LotsaHelpingHands page (linked on the CaringBridge page) for other ways to help us. In particular, we need help with meals for the next month.

Finally, if you can, please pass this page (along with, and perhaps especially, the CaringBridge page ) along to friends of Greg that may not know of his condition. Our family, over the course of the past six month, has discovered how wonderful, how beautiful, how expansive Greg’s network of friends and loved ones are. We want everyone to be as much a part of Greg’s life now as they always have been.

Thank you, and much love to you all,

The Kimura family aka Team Greg.


(Some of Team Greg in Feb 2017.)