Recovering from a brain tumor

Hello, my name is Jessica Foertsch. My wonderful husband, Dylan Skinner, just suffered from a terrible event. For those of you who do not know, he is a science teacher at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, NY. He was teaching at school on January 12th, 2024, when he suddenly collapsed and started having seizures. He was rushed to the ER where a very large mass was found in his brain.

Dylan began having headaches around September of 2023. He just shrugged them off, thinking they were stress related. The headaches would be intense, but he would take some Tylenol or Advil, rest and have a snack, and they would eventually go away. Over Christmas break, he did not have any headaches, so it seemed very much to be stress induced. No one would have guessed that they were caused by a 9 cm tumor in his temporal lobe. Besides having headaches, there were no other neurological signs until the day he collapsed.

Dylan had to undergo 48 hour video seizure monitoring, and was placed on a bunch of different medicines to help with the swelling in his brain and to help prevent any more seizures from occuring. He was taken to surgery, and had the tumor removed on January 19th. He is slowly recovering, and awaiting the full pathology report. We know that it is an astrocytoma, but are not sure of the grading. He most likely will need chemotherapy and radiation to help keep the tumor at bay. Unfortunately, this type of tumor is impossible to resect 100% due to its infiltrative nature. He will need to have constant monitoring, MRIs, lab work, and potentially more surgeries for the rest of his life.

Dylan was just beginning to enjoy life. He and I have been together for 13 years now. We met in college and began dating in our first year. We had some career changes and now were stable enough to plan a wedding. We just got married in October of 2023 and were able to have a beautiful honeymoon following. We have been through many ups and downs throughout our 13 years, but this takes the cake. He is the most loving husband I could have asked for. We were thinking of starting our own family, but that has to be put on the back burner while we figure out his potential chemo/radiation.

Dylan is such a wonderful, well rounded person. He teaches almost every science at the high school level. He is also a hockey coach and loves going to the games to support the team. He even hosts a photography club after school. He is very dedicated to his students. He has an infectious personality, and can get along with anyone. He is honest and fair. He is loving and courageous. He would give the shirt off of his back to someone in need. You can always count on him.

His hospital bills are coming in, and some of his procedures and medications/MRIs are not covered by insurance. Unfortunately, we cannot cover all of his expenses at this time, and that is why we are asking for help. If you are able to donate, anything will help and be greatly appreciated.