Guess who's back, back again; cancers back (Hodgkins Lymphoma), tell a friend (about this gofundme).

Hey, I'm Ailis, lucky wife of an extraordinary man named Hunter. We married on December 5th of last year, celebrating together despite the troubles we had faced in 2024.

That summer, Hunter went to be seen for two large lumps ground on his neck; one below the jaw, and another close by near the jugular (scary). An ENT doctor scheduled first a needle biopsy, then a surgical one to remove the lymph node below his jaw, after the first biopsy came back nonconclusive. He told us he suspected cancer. We prayed it wasn't true.

But unfortunately a few weeks after his biopsy (and a scary ER visit after coming down with influenza while recovering), we received our news.

Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Lymphoma. Cancer, bad news.

Good news, very treatable, his oncologist told us. After confirming the cancer was just localized to his neck after one very sucky bone marrow biopsy, he was scheduled for a month of mon-fri radiation treatment through the month of July. His Radiation Oncologist told us he'd "melted away" this same cancer many times before with a very low dosage of radiation. It'd still suck, he was very clear on that, but it eased our minds a bit.

The radiation first took out half of his beard within the first two or so weeks. A tight mask fitted to his shoulders up ensured they were able to precisely hit the affected nodes. A bit before the devastating blow to his facial hair, we attended the "Fuck Hunters Cancer" benefit show, organized by my Dad, his band 10-ply, and many other amazing local punk bands. On top of which, my amazing in laws had begun a gofundme for us. With the money from the benefit and the gofundme, and the support system we had, we were able to still stand on our feet when his treatment related symptoms began to worsen, and he found himself unable to work for the remainder of his treatment and then some.

Next, jaw pain in the affected area, and sores on his tounge, made it difficult to eat. Luckily, again, thanks to his amazing parents (Love you, Bonnie and Chuck), we were having extra high calorie boost shakes delivered to our door nearly every week, so Hunter was able to keep from losing too much weight.

Finally, in early August (around this time last year) He completed his treatment. The nodes had shrunken down to nothing. A bit of time passed for him to regain his strength, and he bounced back hard.

There was another brief scare when he was experiencing radiation exposure related pains, Especially in his chest, the resulted in a few more scary ER visits. But with time they passed.

Then began the routine. Every three months, bloodwork, pet scan, followup. Hunter was being constantly poked and prodded. What's worse, it wasn't the end of the biopsies. Next PET scan, a lesion in his lung, have another biopsy. Oh, its just valley fever ("just" Valley fever??). Next pet scan, a lesion in his "peri portal" area. ANOTHER biopsy. Negative, must've been the wind. Follow ups, bloodwork, speciality doctor visits for infectious diseases and lungs and everything under the sun except a gynecologist.

And though we were grateful for his continued remission, it was frustrating. Every next test, surgery, pet scan, etc. Etc. Landed us several more grand into the massive pit of medical debt we accrued. Sucks, but that's healthcare, babey.

Lastly. They scheduled the biopsy that brings us to now. A slow growing lesion on his spleen appearing in his pet scans. We knew about it for some time, but the oncologist was hesitant to order the biopsy. The spleen is, after all, a big bag of blood. And complications could arise. But eventually it couldnt be ignored anymore.

Last month, on the 16th of July, Hunter went in for his spleen biopsy. I think I can speak for him when I say it absolutely sucked. They would not put him under general anesthesia, as he needed to control his breathing so the performing surgeon would not accidentally puncture his lung above the spleen. They gave him juuuuuuust the right amount of medication to make the operation itself tolerable, but it quickly wore off after it was completed. And apparently, having a needle stuck between your ribs and into your spleen leaves you in a GREAT deal of pain.

Hunter bounced back like he always does. And we began to wait for results, which was taking a FRUSTRATINGLY LONG amount of time.

Then, last week, on Wednesday. Hunter took a phone call from his oncologist. The cancer was back, and was in his spleen. And they reason why his results were taking so long is they were unable to tell if it was the same NLPHL as before, or a Classic Hodgkins Lymphoma. The difference being his treatment being in the form of a medication, or chemotherapy. It appears the previous mild-ish radiation therapy is not an option this time (not like he explicitly CHOSE it the first time, anyways).

That brings us to now. Currently, we're waiting on a second opinion from the Cleveland Clinic to determine what kind of Lymphoma hes dealing with, and hopefully results are back in time for his oncologist follow up in a few weeks, where treatment will likely be scheduled.

The first time around, we weren't any richer or poorer than most of the twenty somethings starting out in the world. Now, we're still reeling from the first time around, and have less to work with month to month. Its unfortunate when this happens to anyone, and Hunter and I are grateful we have an amazing support system to assist us. But nowadays, everyone is banding together resources just to try and survive.

I start this gofundme to humbly ask my friends, family, aquaintences, empathetic strangers, anyone who knows what its like to be in our shoes, to reach a hand out to us. Please only give what you can swing, and if you can't, please share. And if you are fortunate to know Hunter, please give him words of encouragement. Chances are he doesnt need them, that man has an inspiring amount of confidence in everything he does, but he will appreciate it. I will continue to attempt to fatten him up before he begins treatment, and update this gofundme as we receive news.

Thanks.