Hi! So I guess I need to write something here. OH god here we go.

So for those who know me I'm typically not the type to ask people for things, but well. Desperate times and all. Also screw the US Medical System.

Back in March of this year I had severe dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and due to some gross medical negligence and a doctor that decided to blame things on my weight longer than they should have it took another few months, and several hospital trips to get the appropriate diagnosis. That diagnosis being Esophageal Cancer (of the Adenocarcenomic type). (Fun fact: The odds of getting esophageal cancer at 30 or younger are .03% These are the same odds as being struck by lightning, or getting a perfect score on your SATs!). It is 4th stage due to it spreading to my liver, and is currently considered "Inoperable" due to the spread, and size of the tumors. Although my doctors have phrased things as very treatable..... those treatments are getting very expensive. Especially since due to complications from the cancer I have been completely unable to work my full time job. This lack of an income has lead to bills rapidly piling up. Even though folks have been able to help, and I was able to pay off most of the initial expenses with help from friends, family, and colleagues it is this continued treatment need that has lead me to finally bite the bullet, and set one of these up to hopefully get caught up again, and if lucky enough get some sort of buffer to keep me able to at least not have the next round of bills pile up.

Right now we're looking at covering past radiology costs, deferred co-payments for diagnostic tests, and other procedures in addition to some remaining amounts from my initial hospitalization. In addition basically supplementing my lost income which due to symptoms, and treatment time has been almost negated completely since July.

So what's going on now: The current treatment plan as of me writing this was five rounds of a chemotherapy combination known as folfox followed up by a PET scan literally the day of me writing this. If the results of this scan trend positive then we will begin a combination of a daily radiation therapy in conjunction with a different variety of chemotherapy delivered via a port-catheter which has already been placed in my chest.

The Prognosis: We don't really have any kind of treatment plan beyond that point. The current possible floated idea includes ablating the tumors if they shrink small enough. However most thoracic surgeons are cautious about other procedures at this time due to how deep the tumor in my liver is, and the size of the masses in my esophagus. You don't need to tell me about the stats on how things look. I did back near the start, and I'd rather just hear things from my doctors than the internet. (Trust me do not look up esophageal cancer stats. You don't want to see them).

FAQ With Me:

Didn't you try to cover your bills already through another method?

Yes. I did. Initially I was hesitant to start one of these due to my own mental hangups, and decided to go the route of opening up my twitch donations in an effort to help my bills. That helped for a while, but things have started to accumulate again, and I'd rather just do the normal thing this go around. Not to mention due to chemotherapy I haven't been able to stream enough to justify going that route. Though if you ever want to catch me live when I use the platform to talk about treatment you can find me at twitch.tv/bardicfalanx

Where did you get the amount for the GoFundMe?

Honestly I had no idea what to put there, so I went with the platform's recommended amount. I know my treatments/medications/expenses will exceed that, and when that time comes the amount will be updated.

What's your experience been like:

I don't want to dwell on the "What could have happeneds " regarding my diagnosis anymore. That negativity isn't going to get me anywhere. Honestly outside of coping with treatment symptoms, and the mental effects of having cancer I'm just trying to take my life back from this one step at a time. I'm keeping my spirits up, and trying to roll with the waves from this. The highs are high, the lows are really low, and I'm not giving up yet.