Ignite the Fight for Brandon

January 11 ,2023 a visit to urgent care because of severe stomach pain and a mild fever started this battle. The doctor at Urgent Care very possibly saved Brandon’s life that afternoon. She literally scared Brandon into going to Wake Med through the ER to get a CT scan. She wanted to make sure nothing had ruptured inside that would be a cause of his fever. That doctor told us it likely was diverticulitis and that there may be a possible rupture that was causing his fever.

That CT scan revealed a large abdominal mass. ER doctors were floored that no other days prior had presented any issues or pain before now. We were told the mass needed to be biopsied to figure out exactly what it was and what our next step would be to remove it. Admission into the hospital for a biopsy procedure was set for the next morning. The biopsy was completed, his pain was still high, and the fever was still present so as a precaution, a second night stay was added to help manage the pain and give IV antibiotics.

Day three no biopsy results yet and Brandon is released to go home. We wait…..

The results came back on Monday January 16th. It is cancer.

Our world paused. We sat and silently tried to process that diagnosis for days. Inside our home we cried and just thought. We have no clue what is ahead of us. We are scared. We feel lost.

Almost immediately Brandon begins test after test to find out where this cancer began. Due to the location of the abdominal tumor the doctor says to do an ultrasound of the testicles. That test resulted in the urgent process of removing what they found to be a “dead testicle”. Doctors now believe that this is where this all started.

First step in Brandon’s battle is an orchiectomy to remove the testicle in question. That surgery was recently done on February 2nd. Recovery has been very difficult for Brandon. He says it feels like he has been kicked in the balls and the pain doesn’t end. We are just now into week three and he is slowly recovering.

We met with medical oncologist February 21st and have a clearer picture of the diagnosis. Stage 3 Metastatic Testicular Cancer. Chemo treatments begin March 6th. He will have his port placement next week and other tests to make sure his body is ready for the battle of three powerful cycles of chemotherapy. One complete cycle consist of 3 weeks. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Then a Monday. Then another Monday of Chemo. A 9 week course of treatments. Once complete we will do another scan to hopefully reveal that the tumor is gone.

We pray this will heal Brandon. If you are able to assist financially it will be greatly appreciated as it will allow Brandon to focus on his treatments and not the costs. If not, please help the family by sharing. Please continue to send us all the prayers, good vibes, and well wishes you can spare. We need everyone to help ignite the fight for Brandon!