Marco's Got This

As many of you know, our father, Marco, was diagnosed with a stage four glioblastoma in his brain this past October, right around Thanksgiving. Even in that moment of terror and anxiety, all he wanted to do was leave the hospital and see his family for Thanksgiving dinners, to catch up with everyone, to see the new additions to our ever growing family and to obviously talk about sports over the loud voices that come with all of our family gatherings. It became clear that day, even through all the tests and brain surgery that his desire to see his loved ones showed us he was going to fight. A fight that seems impossible, upon reading statistics and hearing doctors’ words, but fight is what he’s been doing.

After an intense round of chemo and radiation, Marco has surprised his doctors with the enthusiasm and energy he’s showcased through these hard times, hell, even a global pandemic hasn’t stopped this man from blasting music every morning and going on walks every day with his Queen, as he likes to call his beautiful wife. Although he has been feeling great and showcasing a positive attitude, we were given the shocking news that his tumour has recently grown and that his previous treatment plan wouldn’t be enough to suppress the growth.

Luckily we’ve been given the news that the fight isn’t over. Marco’s doctors have provided a new treatment of an IV injection of a drug called MVASI, which will hopefully slow the growth through his blood vessels. Immediately, Marco agreed to the treatment but unfortunately this drug, while approved by Ontario, is not covered by OHIP, which makes the treatments quite costly.

This is where we are asking for an extended hand from our loved ones. Through these challenging times, Marco has been unable to work due to the nature of his career as a driver and our mother has dropped everything to care for him. While we are gearing to do as much as we can to get these treatments, we are hoping for a little help to ease any stress on our parents. We know very well that the pandemic has had its restrictions on everyone and understand the financial weight that came along with it. But, we are asking for as little as you can offer to  help Marco keep fighting. Our gratitude is endless and your love and support during these past ten months has been astronomical. Anything will help and as Marco constantly says, “I got this,” and with any help, we’re all hoping to say loud and in unison, “We got this."

- Daniel, Stephanie and Christine