John's cancer crisis

Update - 18 August 2023. First, I can't begin to thank you enough for your caring and kindness. It means the world to my family and me. So, I thought that it would be good to provide an update as to what my status is.

In my last note below, I mentioned that I was getting ready to have another CT scan, in late July, and was hoping that it would show all clear for the liver and the lungs as that would mean I could begin a reduced level of treatment for another year and then hopefully after that regular check-ups but no treatments. At that time I also had blood tests done for the cancer markers.

The results of the scan: lungs had remained clear for just over a year - great news, however, the liver which had been clear for 2 years was again showing 3 lesions, which were slightly larger than the original. As for the blood tests used to measure the cancer markers, one test had dropped by more than half while the other continued to increase. The doctor hasn't provided much insight but has ordered a PET scan for next week to see if that can shed more light on the situation and where to go from there. She is also looking to see if there are any clinical trials out there to help. As of now we haven't found any but are keeping up the search.

I'll update you all again when we get the results of the PET scan. As of now though it looks like I'll be getting chemo for another year.

Again, thanks for all your support. Cheers

PS: On the brighter side I have been able to lose a bunch of weight fitting into clothes that haven't fit in years. And I've increased my level of exercise which is an all-around help.

The long and the short of it is that I will have to continue with the infusions for another year. Hi, my name is John. Three years ago, at the end of 2020, I was diagnosed with colon cancer with treatments continuing to this day. How it began - I was feeling very tired and unstable. My GP had me take a blood test and the results showed that I was bleeding internally. He called me immediately upon receiving the results and said that I had lost 4 units of blood, half the normal amount, but he couldn't tell where the bleeding was and that I needed to get to the hospital post haste.

Now I thought that I would go to the hospital, they would run a few tests, pump me up with four units of blood and send me on my way. Wrong! The tests showed that I had cancer in my colon and needed an immediate operation to remove a tumor that had eaten through the colon wall. After the surgery and spending five weeks in the hospital, the result was that the tumor was successfully removed. However, my final PET scan found four lesions on my liver. At this point, I was referred to an oncologist for treatment. That first treatment lasted from January 2021 to January 2022. At that time my scans and all markers showed that the cancer was in remission, so I was put on a prophylactic dose of chemo.

After six months, they reran the tests for the cancer markers and found that they had shot back above the original levels. The scan this time also showed that the cancer had moved to my lungs at which point I went back on infusions every other week. The next scan three months later showed that all was clear but was told that I should continue the chemo for the next year and three more scans. At this point, all the following scans have shown clear and I have one more to go, but the oncologist believes that whatever the results I will have to continue with chemo because traces of cancer are still showing in the markers of the blood.

So why am I asking for your support through go fund me? Well, last November, without fully informing me the oncologist added antibodies to my treatment. She didn't explain the cost, however, which I found out in the first bill two months after the antibody treatment started that each treatment after my deductible was $800 or $1600 / month. Before the antibody treatment, we were keeping up with the bills but this skyrocketed our costs. And then we got worse news that our salary was cut by 40%. While we were told this was temporary our firm has yet to define what temporary is. We reached out to one resource after another that we were told could help but so far nothing. So this is the reason that we are reaching out to you all.