Marcus Humphrey Cancer Treatment

My name is Pastor Michael Coxwell, and the Lord has put it upon mine and my wife's hearts to reach out and raise some much-needed funds for the Humphrey family. Marcus and Mary are known for being the hands and feet of Jesus in our community as they help so many people who are in need. Now it is time for our community to help them. The Funds raised will be used to assist the Humphreys in paying for gas, lodging, and meals during this long process. If you are unable to give, please join me in prayer!

I asked Mary to document their journey and here is her reply.

Marcus and I planned to go with our daughter and our grandkids to the Florida Keys over our Christmas break. We had also planned for Christmas Eve and Christmas day at home with our East coast kids and grandkids. Then also, our oldest son and his family gifted us with a trip to California to see them. We were to fly out on Christmas Day.

Our plan was to leave for the Keys after church on the Sunday before Christmas. On the way to church Marcus pointed out this knot on his neck and asked if we had noticed it. We all said we hadn’t. We could see it now that he pointed it out. The knot was about the size of an avocado pit.

I asked him if we should cancel our travel plans and get him to the doctor. He said, “No, I feel fine. I’ll get checked later.” When we returned home on Christmas Eve our daughter-in-law, Liz, who is a nurse looked at the lump. She was concerned and advised us to make an appointment with a specialist.

By the time that specialist saw him, had CT scans, and a biopsy completed that avocado size pit had grown in size to almost the size of a pee wee football. Those visits took place in early January and from that doctor we first heard the words “a malignant very aggressive cancer.”

He referred us to MUSC Head and Neck oncology on January 12th, 2022. Marcus and has been at or being treated by MUSC ever since. After several biopsies and scans the hospital referred him to their lymphoma specialist. He began his first round of chemotherapy on his birthday, January 20th.

He was diagnosed with a rare form of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with two subtypes; diffuse large B cell lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma.

The cancer has not responded well enough to now four rounds of chemo. This makes Marcus a candidate for what is known as CAR-T therapy.

This therapy involves harvesting the patients T-cells and then those cells are sent off to a lab to be infused with an agent that strengthens them to fight lymphoma.

That is a lengthy and very expensive process which also involves us staying in Charleston for one to two more months. Marcus is currently having his T-cells harvested. Then he will have another round of what's known as “bridging chemo.” This will help stop the lymphoma from growing while he's waiting for the T cells to be reintroduced.

After the bridging chemo is completed this week we will get to come home for a couple of weeks. We then come back in early May for those T cells to be reintroduced. He will be hospitalized for about 2 weeks and then we'll need to stay close by MUSC for another 2 to 6 weeks where he can be monitored everyday in order to avoid complications from any potential severe side effects.

During this journey we have been supported by the prayers, love, and gifts of many family and friends. We have an overwhelming sense of gratitude. We have felt the tangible presence of the Lord throughout this arduous journey. We have a wonderful oncology team who are kind, compassionate, brilliant servants. We are both looking primarily to Dr. Jesus. He has never left or forsaken us.