Loving on The Caldwell’s
Donation protected
Hey yall! Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Liz Skipper, and I work with Brandon’s wife and we have became best of friends.
As many of you know, Brandon was diagnosed with a rare form of salivary cancer.
Brandon and his wife Ginny have been married for almost 8 years now, and they have two beautiful little girls Kinley (7) and Cammie (5).
August 2020 when Brandon approached his wife and told her that the lump behind his ear was "bothering" him. Ginny, convinced him he needed to get this check out by a doctor.
After a couple of doctor appointments, a CT scan revealed a tumor in Brandon's left parotid gland. The ENT expressed that she felt as if the tumor was benign, and that there was only a 10% chance of it being cancer. Regardless, they had to do a biopsy to be certain.
Days later, on September 28th, Ginny and Brandon's world was rocked with devastating news. The biopsy results concluded that Brandon had a rare form of salivary gland cancer called acinic cell carcinoma. There are only approximately 135 cases of acinic cell carcinoma diagnosed yearly in the U.S.
The first step was having the tumor surgically removed. So on October 21st, just a few weeks after being diagnosed, Brandon underwent surgery to remove the tumor along with the superior lobe of his parotid gland. Prior to surgery, Brandon and Ginny were informed that due to the location of the tumor, there was a chance part of Brandon's facial nerve may need to be sacrificed. During surgery, the surgeon found that the tumor was sitting on top of the facial nerve! Our prayers were answered, and they were able to remove the tumor without damaging the nerve.
After surgery, Brandon's case was presented to a tumor board at the hospital in Baton Rouge. For different reasons, the tumor board was unable to come to a conclusion as far as what was best moving forward.
That's when Brandon and Ginny decided it was ultimately best to seek another opinion at MD Anderson in Houston. Due to the extremely close margins when the tumor was removed, the radiation oncologist at MD Anderson told Brandon that there was a 30-50% chance of the tumor coming back in the next 10 years id he didn't do treatment. After careful consideration, Brandon and Ginny made the decision to move forward with a type of radiation treatment called Proton Therapy. There are only 27 centers in the nation that offer this type of radiation, and MD Anderson is one of them. Unlike traditional radiation, Proton therapy would give them the benefit of reducing the risk of the cancer returning with less severe side effects. So on Wednesday, January 13th, Brandon received his first Proton therapy treatment. His treatments will be 5 days a week for 6 to 7 weeks at MD Anderson in Houston.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of costs that come with traveling and living away from home to receive these treatments. Also, even with the insurance approval, Brandon and Ginny will have to cover 20% of the cost of treatment after they meet their deductible. Treatment also consists of multipl scans such as CT scans, ultrasounds, MRIs, and PET scans. Brandon will be unable to work during the course of his treatments, and possibly even a few weeks after due to lingering side effects of the radiation. Of course Ginny had been and will be by his side throughout his journey and recovery. They will also be pulling their girls out of school to do virtual schooling in Texas.
Even after treatments have finished, Brandon and Ginny will have to continue traveling to Houston for him to be closely monitored. Brandon will have scans every 3 months for a year, then every 4 months for a year, and then every 6 months for 3 years. At 5 years out, he will then receive scans once a year for the rest of his life.
Let's love on our sweet friends by helping ease the financial burdens they are facing. Any donations will be used to help cover to cost of travel, lodging, food, treatments, and paying bills while unable to work.
Even more importantly, let us continue to lift Brandon and his family up in prayer. We know that one day God can and will use this as part of Brandon's testimony to bring glory to His kingdom!
As many of you know, Brandon was diagnosed with a rare form of salivary cancer.
Brandon and his wife Ginny have been married for almost 8 years now, and they have two beautiful little girls Kinley (7) and Cammie (5).
August 2020 when Brandon approached his wife and told her that the lump behind his ear was "bothering" him. Ginny, convinced him he needed to get this check out by a doctor.
After a couple of doctor appointments, a CT scan revealed a tumor in Brandon's left parotid gland. The ENT expressed that she felt as if the tumor was benign, and that there was only a 10% chance of it being cancer. Regardless, they had to do a biopsy to be certain.
Days later, on September 28th, Ginny and Brandon's world was rocked with devastating news. The biopsy results concluded that Brandon had a rare form of salivary gland cancer called acinic cell carcinoma. There are only approximately 135 cases of acinic cell carcinoma diagnosed yearly in the U.S.
The first step was having the tumor surgically removed. So on October 21st, just a few weeks after being diagnosed, Brandon underwent surgery to remove the tumor along with the superior lobe of his parotid gland. Prior to surgery, Brandon and Ginny were informed that due to the location of the tumor, there was a chance part of Brandon's facial nerve may need to be sacrificed. During surgery, the surgeon found that the tumor was sitting on top of the facial nerve! Our prayers were answered, and they were able to remove the tumor without damaging the nerve.
After surgery, Brandon's case was presented to a tumor board at the hospital in Baton Rouge. For different reasons, the tumor board was unable to come to a conclusion as far as what was best moving forward.
That's when Brandon and Ginny decided it was ultimately best to seek another opinion at MD Anderson in Houston. Due to the extremely close margins when the tumor was removed, the radiation oncologist at MD Anderson told Brandon that there was a 30-50% chance of the tumor coming back in the next 10 years id he didn't do treatment. After careful consideration, Brandon and Ginny made the decision to move forward with a type of radiation treatment called Proton Therapy. There are only 27 centers in the nation that offer this type of radiation, and MD Anderson is one of them. Unlike traditional radiation, Proton therapy would give them the benefit of reducing the risk of the cancer returning with less severe side effects. So on Wednesday, January 13th, Brandon received his first Proton therapy treatment. His treatments will be 5 days a week for 6 to 7 weeks at MD Anderson in Houston.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of costs that come with traveling and living away from home to receive these treatments. Also, even with the insurance approval, Brandon and Ginny will have to cover 20% of the cost of treatment after they meet their deductible. Treatment also consists of multipl scans such as CT scans, ultrasounds, MRIs, and PET scans. Brandon will be unable to work during the course of his treatments, and possibly even a few weeks after due to lingering side effects of the radiation. Of course Ginny had been and will be by his side throughout his journey and recovery. They will also be pulling their girls out of school to do virtual schooling in Texas.
Even after treatments have finished, Brandon and Ginny will have to continue traveling to Houston for him to be closely monitored. Brandon will have scans every 3 months for a year, then every 4 months for a year, and then every 6 months for 3 years. At 5 years out, he will then receive scans once a year for the rest of his life.
Let's love on our sweet friends by helping ease the financial burdens they are facing. Any donations will be used to help cover to cost of travel, lodging, food, treatments, and paying bills while unable to work.
Even more importantly, let us continue to lift Brandon and his family up in prayer. We know that one day God can and will use this as part of Brandon's testimony to bring glory to His kingdom!
Organiser and beneficiary
Elizabeth Skipper
Organiser
Jackson, LA
Virginia Caldwell
Beneficiary