Jacob Faulkner......Our Friend on Everyday
Donation protected
Please read to the bottom of this story, it's a little long, but it's important that you know you have a HUGE part in it…
Meet Jacob, not just my mate, but a mate to so many. Jacob is completely infectious with his HUGE heart, beaming smile, cheeky good looks and his mind-blowing positivity. Jacob is one of those absolutely rare humans who genuinely lives his life to help anyone, in any way, and to help make a difference. He’s not a glass half full, he is the glass will keep overflowing, and ‘you take a drink, I’ll watch and go after you’ type of man. Jacob is a phenomenally real, caring and positive person that I truly believe makes an impact on everyone he meets.
I have been honoured to mentor Jacob professionally, and I'm very blessed to be his mate. Over the last 6 months we had worked through some amazing professional goals and life goals. Lots of manifesting, patience, healthy choices, positivity, belief in himself and sheer determination and with this he landed his ‘dream job’ moving into the Sales side of Real Estate, in a wonderful company with an incredible boss and equally incredible team. Like all his wishes were coming true, he even started to date a beautiful woman and he was literally on cloud 9…. So sadly, for now, the fairytale has come to a shocking halt and I'll pass over to the main character now so you can hear it in his words…. Please read to the bottom, as you have a lead role in this.
“12 months ago I started getting headaches & unusual pains. 2022 I quit drinking alcohol to be more focussed on my career drive. This year I had scans because of my headache frequency but nothing was detected.
3 months ago the pains became more frequent where I started to blackout often with a metallic taste in my mouth & sensation in my throat which became a sudden strong pain in my head that I couldn’t explain. It then happened a few more times & it was suggested I go see a doctor.
22/10/22, just before I went to work, something felt off. The next morning I knew something was really off. So I mentioned it to my GF who strongly encouraged me to see a doctor. The wait at the medical centre was long but she kept me in check even though I wanted to go to the beach.
They did another scan & found two tumors in my brain which had obviously grown in the time of just a few months. Immediately I rushed off to the RNSH so they could get this under control & I ended up having about 15 seizures that evening which nearly ended me.
I have stayed calm and positive.
I have received so much love, calls, visits, emails, texts, photos, which have made me feel happy daily and I am so grateful of everyone for all your support each day.
The surgeons at RNSH operated on my brain to remove what they could of the tumors but unfortunately there is still more in my brain that can’t be removed. My pain is strongly a 10/10 but the love I have been receiving is 100/100.
What they found is the worst of the worst and could have ended me but my positive energy and drive is more important to me.
We will be going into the next steps soon to understand the structure for the treatment which will be in place which I’m actually excited about. There will be a lot of ups & downs on this ride so let’s all stay very positive, please!
I am so truly grateful to everyone who have become involved in this so far and my love has rapidly increased towards you all.
I truly hope that I can get back to my life.
I love you all so much & I can’t wait to see you all soon.”
So, 3 weeks on and the nightmare for our dear Jacob is really unfolding. Jacob has terminal Glioblastoma Multiforme - Aggressive Brain Cancer. He has a gruelling treatment plan ahead for him to fight for his life, and be the miracle man, the man that can beat this and not only believe in positivity, but live it, breathe it and believe that he can make a difference, to him and all those around him. So in his own words again, this is what the next 6-9 months will look like….
“Treatment which needs to start asap will be combined Radiation and Chemotherapy for the next 6ish weeks. Further treatment will depend on the treatment response.
After this initial treatment to assist in reducing the size and growth of the tumour, and hoping it responds, a further 4-6 weeks of combined Radiation and Pills, then 6 months of pills only. This too may change depending on the responsiveness of the treatment.
They are making me a personalised mask to protect my face and brain and will commence ASAP.
The pain is sometimes 10/10 but my love and care for everyone is more at 100/100 so I’m blocking it out as best as I can so that I can be more happy and positive towards everyone in my life”
Jacob will be moving in with his blood sister and her 7 year old son in Cronulla, so that he has somewhere to live and someone who will take the lead role in being his carer. Other family members are in the area. This is a HUGE task for his family. His treatment will be at St George Hospital, so the travel will be consistent. I'm hoping that together we can chip in here and help raise enough funds so that Jacob can have NO financial stress and he does not have to feel he is a burden on his family. Our goal is to enable him to be able to: pay his bills, pay for transport to get treatment, pay for at home care needs to make it easier for him and his family, cover his rent so when he is feeling well enough he can have some days/nights in his own place with his own things, feel like himself and give his sister & little nephew downtime too. Maybe he could even tick off some of his bucket list goals. Jacob's sole focus needs to be him, and he wants to go through this journey and give it all so he can continue to be our incredible friend that just oozes so much love and positivity, so that he can beat this bloody disease.
So if you can spare a couple of $$, please do, it will really take this burden away from him, as for now it’s something that is worrying him greatly. Together we can free him of this stress and give him the financial freedom he needs to keep on being our Jacob, Our Friend not just on Friday, but on Everyday.
In addition to asking you to support this fundraiser, I would love it if you could join me to help keep him in high spirits. If you're not already a Friend on his socials, jump on and see Jacobs ‘Friends on a Friday’ posts. No matter who you are or where you are around the world, let's flood his posts with ‘Friends on Friday for our Jacob - pop up a video message, a photo, a joke, share a moment, but spread the positivity, show him your love, that is what needs to be surrounded with. In return, Jacob is going to do his best when feeling ok to keep us going with his "Friends on a Friday", and updates on this journey. Thanks very much and I hope you can help me make a difference for him and make sure there is no end to this story.
Big love, Dee xx
Organizer and beneficiary
Dee Uther
Organizer
St Leonards NSW
Jacob Faulkner
Beneficiary
