Help Micah Lund look to a hopeful future

The condensed version:

Micah Lund has had his entrance to adult independence slam to a complete stop twice due to cancer. As he battles his way through his second bout we are hoping to help set him up for a smooth entry.

Can you help set this ambitious intelligent life back on track?

The full story:

No one wants to hear that they have cancer. For Micah it has been especially brutal because he has heard it not once, but twice. Both times at crucial developmental crossroads as he is venturing into adulthood and taking all of the normal steps a young adult takes to build a life for himself. All young adults face hurdles, for Micah they have been mountains.

Micah was first diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in 2018 at the age of 21, while he was attending Western Washington University. Ewing Sarcoma is a tumor that often occurs in large bones, for Micah it started in his right pelvis, grew into his spine, and syatic nerve. It typically attacks young adults, but only around 200 a year on average in the United States. Before he was diagnosed he had seen 4 different doctors trying to understand the reason for the severe pain he was experiencing in his hip. It is such an unusual cancer, it is not something that they search for normally. It wasn’t until a nurse stopped his family in the lobby and encouraged them to go to the ER and demand an MRI that it was discovered. Within moments, Micah’s whole world was turned upside down, with the information that a large mass had invaded his body. Thankfully Micah is blessed to be living near Seattle where the world's top specialists deal with Ewing Sarcoma at Seattle Children's Hospital. No matter what age the patient is, the care team for this rare disease will serve them. So Micah’s life building was put on hold as he and his family climbed this seemingly insurmountable mountain. Through the teams aggressive and attentive treatment and the tenacity of this determined young man Micah beat the odds and completed treatment at the end of 2019.

Micah bravely returned to Western Washington University to get back to the work of building his life. He achieved a degree in Biochemistry. Not only that, he did it while holding a work study position in the school chemistry lab for 2 years. He was actively involved in sortase research and was recognized for his contribution with his name published on a paper of discovery. Micah loves Marine life, particularly seals, and dedicated a summer to NOAH on a deserted research island in CA. Thanks to a Gofundme that was arranged at the end of his last treatment he was able to focus on his studies and his well being. The finances that came from generous donations helped pay for his food, transportation costs, and health care that was not covered by the insurance he still held under his parents. Life was back on track for Micah.

Then, on August 14, 2023 when Micah went in for his 5 year cancer scans, he and his family and friends were ready to celebrate. The 5 year time marker would be a sign that all this cancer was hopefully in the past and he could move forward into adulthood. Micah was looking and feeling great, with an exciting future to look ahead to. These check up scans are normally scheduled in October. But with his application letters distributed to dream colleges for a Master degree program, he was preparing to have this last cancer task done and out of the way so he could head off to school in September. But there it was, not a hurdle, but another entire mountain. What a huge gut punch it was for Micah to be told that they saw the cancer had returned and is now visible in his right lung.

Regrettably there is lots of research available for more common cancers such as breast cancer, you can see in wide numbers with varying ages of people, what treatments have worked and not worked. For Micah's rare circumstance they are sadly figuring out as they go. So now this amazing life is interrupted yet again. With this being the first time in 5 years of consistent scans that cancer showed up, the team believes that these little Ewing sarcoma cells have been hiding out in his body. Time to get super aggressive while also extremely experimental with treatments. This time Micah had to undergo a very long and painful stem cell extraction, so they can bank those cells for the event that his body shuts down due to aggressive chemo treatment. Once they confirmed that the chemo was shrinking the tumor in the lungs, they surgically removed the mass. Then continued blasting his body with as much chemotherapy as it can take. He is about to start what will hopefully be his last round of chemo the day after his 28th birthday.

Through it all, Micah, being a born scientist, loves that they are currently poking and doing tests on his abstracted lung mass for research on such a rare case.

Then what? Well, while Micah was preparing for his biopsy he was notified he was accepted into his top dream school for his Master program, in Vienna Austria. His Professor back in Western also has told him they would love to have him back. He has options, many great options.

Micah will be turning 28 years old on January 26, at an age where most adults are able to feel excited and proud of their careers that are starting to take off, he has been frustratingly fought down time and time again with this disease. This time around he is no longer covered by his parents medical insurance and has had to rely on state insurance and the generosity of Seattle Children’s Hospital for his treatments. He can’t work or even really be in public as the chemo has destroyed his immune system. He hasn’t been able to live independently through this as he is just too ill, so is living with his grandmother and relying on friends and family for transportation and entertainment etc.

While he bravely looks forward to the options he has outside the hospital doors, this mountain has set back more than just his health and independence. Wouldn’t it be great if Micah could reach the pinnacle of this mountain and soar into a bright future without being hindered by financial setbacks.

We can help with that! For now, we would like to focus on funds for Micah’s future. For the options that are out there waiting for him. Let’s help him get to the other side of this mountain and set him up for the bright future he has been fighting relentlessly for.