"Matt & Di Need a L'il Help"
Donation protected
Hello, everyone. Matt passed on last night (New Year's Eve, 2019). Diane wants everyone to know that it was his time to go and he's truly better off wherever he is now. He passed peacefully with Diane and Darkness (the rescue kitty) by his side. Click the "Updates" tab for more info.
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Some friends and family of the Thorsen-Sullivans are spreading the word about Matt's recent battle with cancer in an effort to raise some much-needed dough for our favorite dynamic duo.
Out of respect for their privacy, we've waited until now to make the news 100% public on the interwebs, so apologies if you are just finding out about this now. Matt has health insurance through Seven Days, but he still needs extra funds to cover travel to treatments, alternative therapies and potential loss of income when he's out sick.
Matt, Di and the kitties are proud folks and don't want your pity, sympathy or tears. But, we all know that cancer is a bitch for anyone to deal with — even these badasses!
They DO want to hear from you, hang out, have fun and yes, they could also use some extra cash. So give! And, if you can't right now, no biggie.
If you want to help out in a non-monetary way...
contact Diane via text or the Facebooks for more details and make an offer they can't refuse.
Thorever is up!
There's a huge exhibition of Matt's photography at the BCA Center on Church Street May 19-July 15. Matt has put together a show that features some of his best portraits — including some selfies, of course. Some of the work has never been shown in a gallery before. If you go, be sure to check out the 2nd floor, the stairways and the lower level which features some recent large-scale prints. More info about the show, prints, etc. is here .
So, how did this whole cancer thing go down?
In October 2016, Matt saw a doctor about a sore on his toe that wasn't healing well. Soon after the initial visit he was diagnosed with melanoma and his toe was removed. Unfortunately, the cancer had already spread to lymph nodes in his leg, so he had the nodes removed, too. Following those surgeries, Matt tried some immunotherapy treatments at UVM to keep the cancer from spreading further, but more tumors cropped up in several organs throughout 2017. During this time, Matt wasn't feeling too sick. He was mostly himself: taking photos for Seven Days, relentlessly landscaping Minky Manor, kissing the kitties — you know, the Matt thing.
In December, as a consequence of his immunotherapy treatments, Matt's pituitary gland was permanently damaged and he is now taking steroids to manage his hormone activity.
This past January, Matt underwent a round of radiation that targeted some new tumors in his brain. It was a rough time for Matt and Di. Matt lost a lot of his hair and was quite ill. Since then, the tumors have shrunk and he's been feeling a little bit better. He's on a new immunotherapy treatment prescribed by an oncologist at Dana-Farber Institute in Boston that both Di and Matt trust and appreciate. Matt will be traveling down to Beantown to get treatments pretty regularly this spring. Fortunately, it's just a pill and some infusions, but he has to go there since it's a trial that UVM is not participating in. Now you're up to date!
We know many of you are cancer survivors and/or have family who've battled the disease. For some of us, this is the first time we've come close to cancer, so we apologize for the vague medical details. If you're interested in knowing more about Matt's health, you can ask him directly or message Don Eggert via this page.
Needless to say, it's been a rough year and a half.
Let's do what we can to keep our kooky friends happy, healthy and comfortable.
As Diane would say, "God Bless!"
And now, a word from Buddy...
———
Some friends and family of the Thorsen-Sullivans are spreading the word about Matt's recent battle with cancer in an effort to raise some much-needed dough for our favorite dynamic duo.
Out of respect for their privacy, we've waited until now to make the news 100% public on the interwebs, so apologies if you are just finding out about this now. Matt has health insurance through Seven Days, but he still needs extra funds to cover travel to treatments, alternative therapies and potential loss of income when he's out sick.
Matt, Di and the kitties are proud folks and don't want your pity, sympathy or tears. But, we all know that cancer is a bitch for anyone to deal with — even these badasses!
They DO want to hear from you, hang out, have fun and yes, they could also use some extra cash. So give! And, if you can't right now, no biggie.
If you want to help out in a non-monetary way...
contact Diane via text or the Facebooks for more details and make an offer they can't refuse.
Thorever is up!
There's a huge exhibition of Matt's photography at the BCA Center on Church Street May 19-July 15. Matt has put together a show that features some of his best portraits — including some selfies, of course. Some of the work has never been shown in a gallery before. If you go, be sure to check out the 2nd floor, the stairways and the lower level which features some recent large-scale prints. More info about the show, prints, etc. is here .
So, how did this whole cancer thing go down?
In October 2016, Matt saw a doctor about a sore on his toe that wasn't healing well. Soon after the initial visit he was diagnosed with melanoma and his toe was removed. Unfortunately, the cancer had already spread to lymph nodes in his leg, so he had the nodes removed, too. Following those surgeries, Matt tried some immunotherapy treatments at UVM to keep the cancer from spreading further, but more tumors cropped up in several organs throughout 2017. During this time, Matt wasn't feeling too sick. He was mostly himself: taking photos for Seven Days, relentlessly landscaping Minky Manor, kissing the kitties — you know, the Matt thing.
In December, as a consequence of his immunotherapy treatments, Matt's pituitary gland was permanently damaged and he is now taking steroids to manage his hormone activity.
This past January, Matt underwent a round of radiation that targeted some new tumors in his brain. It was a rough time for Matt and Di. Matt lost a lot of his hair and was quite ill. Since then, the tumors have shrunk and he's been feeling a little bit better. He's on a new immunotherapy treatment prescribed by an oncologist at Dana-Farber Institute in Boston that both Di and Matt trust and appreciate. Matt will be traveling down to Beantown to get treatments pretty regularly this spring. Fortunately, it's just a pill and some infusions, but he has to go there since it's a trial that UVM is not participating in. Now you're up to date!
We know many of you are cancer survivors and/or have family who've battled the disease. For some of us, this is the first time we've come close to cancer, so we apologize for the vague medical details. If you're interested in knowing more about Matt's health, you can ask him directly or message Don Eggert via this page.
Needless to say, it's been a rough year and a half.
Let's do what we can to keep our kooky friends happy, healthy and comfortable.
As Diane would say, "God Bless!"
And now, a word from Buddy...
Organizer and beneficiary
Don Eggert
Organizer
Winooski, VT
Diane Sullivan
Beneficiary
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