Mike Fights Cancer
Donation protected
It’s May 2018 and my brother Mike has his whole world before him. Just a few months prior he had married his wife in Thailand. He now had a house in Houston that he was ready to welcome her home to. And, he had a job he absolutely loved with the team at Psyclinic.
At the end of the month he was set to return to Thailand one more time to finish arrangements for Sutida - his wife - to get her spousal visa and even potentially return home with him. His flight out was scheduled for May 30th. Instead, Mike was diagnosed with cancer on May 28th.
There were little to no warning signs. In early May he began having recurring stomach pains, but he had always struggled with gout, so he didn’t think too much about it. Recheck the diet and keep moving on. However, by mid month the pain was enough for him to make a trip to urgent care, and from there a series of events occurred with Mike receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 gastric cancer. Even worse, this case of cancer was incredibly aggressive and had already spread to local organs, lymph nodes throughout the torso area, and along his spine and hips.
Even still, the first round of chemo/treatment saw Mike rallying and his organ-based tumors decreasing in size according to some scans made in early August. We were even planning for Mike to begin pill-based chemo and possibly returning to the work he loved so much by the end of the year.
But, of course, life always has a set of plans for us that we could never predict. In late August he began experiencing abdominal distension and intermittent fevers. We now launch this campaign with Mike in the midst of what is already a two-week hospital stay. His fluid buildup is around 3-4 liters/day and at this point requiring constant draining. There was a period last week where the family was called to all return to Houston to possibly say goodbye.
The battle has been a difficult one, but even with as bleak an outlook has been shared with our family we’re not going to give up hope. Mike will start a new round of chemo on Tuesday. We’re incredibly excited to say that his wife will finally be able to come to the states on October 5th. We’re not now and never will give up. Mike is an amazing son and brother, my daughters cherish him as an uncle and are constantly asking to see or FaceTime him, and there is no doubt he will be an incredible husband.
We now ask for your help, whatever you might be capable of. With this fight comes a mountain of medical bills. The Psyclinic has been so supportive of Mike, but even still he’s already been issued $27,000 in medical bills and we’ve yet to receive the incurred costs for this current multi-week hospital stay. No matter what, our entire family is going to rally for Mike and do what we can. But, know that whatever help any of you can offer him will be deeply appreciated. Mike hasn’t been able to work since May and we still have more journey ahead of us.
Please know, too, that ANY funds raised above and beyond the costs associated with his medical care will all 100% be donated to cancer research in his name.
At the end of the month he was set to return to Thailand one more time to finish arrangements for Sutida - his wife - to get her spousal visa and even potentially return home with him. His flight out was scheduled for May 30th. Instead, Mike was diagnosed with cancer on May 28th.
There were little to no warning signs. In early May he began having recurring stomach pains, but he had always struggled with gout, so he didn’t think too much about it. Recheck the diet and keep moving on. However, by mid month the pain was enough for him to make a trip to urgent care, and from there a series of events occurred with Mike receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 gastric cancer. Even worse, this case of cancer was incredibly aggressive and had already spread to local organs, lymph nodes throughout the torso area, and along his spine and hips.
Even still, the first round of chemo/treatment saw Mike rallying and his organ-based tumors decreasing in size according to some scans made in early August. We were even planning for Mike to begin pill-based chemo and possibly returning to the work he loved so much by the end of the year.
But, of course, life always has a set of plans for us that we could never predict. In late August he began experiencing abdominal distension and intermittent fevers. We now launch this campaign with Mike in the midst of what is already a two-week hospital stay. His fluid buildup is around 3-4 liters/day and at this point requiring constant draining. There was a period last week where the family was called to all return to Houston to possibly say goodbye.
The battle has been a difficult one, but even with as bleak an outlook has been shared with our family we’re not going to give up hope. Mike will start a new round of chemo on Tuesday. We’re incredibly excited to say that his wife will finally be able to come to the states on October 5th. We’re not now and never will give up. Mike is an amazing son and brother, my daughters cherish him as an uncle and are constantly asking to see or FaceTime him, and there is no doubt he will be an incredible husband.
We now ask for your help, whatever you might be capable of. With this fight comes a mountain of medical bills. The Psyclinic has been so supportive of Mike, but even still he’s already been issued $27,000 in medical bills and we’ve yet to receive the incurred costs for this current multi-week hospital stay. No matter what, our entire family is going to rally for Mike and do what we can. But, know that whatever help any of you can offer him will be deeply appreciated. Mike hasn’t been able to work since May and we still have more journey ahead of us.
Please know, too, that ANY funds raised above and beyond the costs associated with his medical care will all 100% be donated to cancer research in his name.
Fundraising team: Team Mikey (2)
Lester Clowes
Organizer
Raised $1,390 from 5 donations
Plano, TX
Andrew Webb
Team member
Raised $3,000 from 3 donations
This team raised $5,890 from 44 other donations.
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