Josh’s Battle with Non-Hodgkin B-Cell Lymphoma

Hi everyone! I’m Brooklin and Josh is my dad. He has been diagnosed with Stage 4 - Non-Hodgkin’s B Cell Lymphoma. His cancer has been very aggressive and attacked his body very quickly. 

In January he started getting sick and doctors just thought it was a UTI and treated as such. He lost over 30 pounds and so much of his strength he could barely get around. He went to a urology appointment on February 14th when that specialist thought he was having appendicitis. He sent him immediately to the ER. Happy Valentine’s Day! They did scans and found what was thought to be a mass on his pancreas. He was admitted to the hospital at that point. 

On February 21st they performed the biopsy and he had to be reintubated. The mass they found on his pancreas was actually was a cluster of lymph nodes. A couple days later they confirmed that it was cancer and eventually labeled as Stage 4 - Non-Hodgkin’s B Cell Lymphoma. They started his first round of chemo the following week have given him weekly injections in his spinal fluid. They were able to get his intubation tube out and have a tracheostomy a couple days before his 45th birthday. Happy Birthday!

He’s been in hospital for almost six weeks now, three of which were in the ICU because of various complications. He was moved to PCU last week and will be there through his next round of chemo, which is set to begin this week. So far, the treatments seem to be working as they should. He continues to fight and deal with the various complications. One of the worst has been the lymphoma in his spinal fluid has built pressure on his optical nerves so he’s unable to open his eyes, even when he’s awake and aware of everything going on. He’s so weak, he cannot sit up for long periods of time. He’s also having to learn to talk with the trach in place. 

He has a long road of treatments, recovery, and rehabilitation. Undoubtedly, after he gets discharged from the hospital he will have to go to a rehab and finish getting his strength back. We just want to get him healthy and back home to play with his grandson and back to work and living his normal life! 

The donations will help us pay the mounting medical bills and general expenses that will be ongoing as my dad continues to fight the cancer and overcome the side effects has wreaked havoc on his body.