Mike, is now battling round 2 of cancer, and the gloves have come off! As most of you know, this is a devastating blow to all of us after the fierce fight and struggle that he overcame just a year ago. As one of our best and dearest friends we want to do everything we can to help him fight.

With the full support of his family and friends, Mike, has geared up for ROUND 2!!! It was clear that the healthcare he was receiving at home in New Mexico was no longer adequate and he needs specialized treatment (full details at bottom). His oldest daughter, Randi, lives in Arizona. So a couple of weeks ago Mike and Amanda (his wife) packed up the car, drove to Arizona for an appointment with the Mayo Clinic. This was not easy decision to make because it meant leaving their 3 kids (Jared-19, Haileigh-15, and Aliah-13) with family and their 2 dogs at home.  

The first appointment at the Mayo clinic was amazing! They were able to put together a very aggressive treatment plan that will hopefully give Mike a fighting chance. The initial treatment will be 2 months of chemo.

Although there was no question on whether or not to proceed with this treatment, it has been extremely difficult because this means they will be in Arizona for a MINIMUM of 2 months. Mike has been unable to work since his initial diagnosis and Amanda had to stop working a few months ago because Mike now needs 24/7 care. They are currently staying with his oldest daughter Randi who is helping Amanda with Mikes care while going through this aggressive treatment.

As you can image, the financial burden of all of this is enough to cripple someone who isn’t having to fight for their life. Mike has appointments several times a week with different specialists and started his first chemo treatment a couple of days ago. He does have some insurance which is helping with a portion of the medical bills, but there is an enormous amount of out of pocket expenses that are adding up quickly. Funds raised will go to expenses for prescriptions, medical bills not covered by insurance, living expenses while in Arizona, household bills, travel, etc.

Mike and his family are doing everything they can to win the war with cancer and anything that you can do help would be greatly appreciated.

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Thank you and God Bless!



The Backstory:



Initial diagnosis (Round 1)

In October 2016, he was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. Although this was unbelievably devastating to everyone, he didn’t falter and immediately went to the battle lines, with his family & friends in tow.

Due to the severity and stage of the cancer, his entire stomach and spleen were removed. There were several complications after the surgery which resulted in a hospital of 29 days (in and out of ICU). He was finally released a week before Christmas and got to enjoy those very precious moments with his wife, kids, and of course the fur babies.

The following several months were spent going through radiation and a failed attempt at chemo, due to what his oncologists called an allergic reaction. Despite that, his scans were showing no signs of cancer.

The gloves come off (Round 2)

Unfortunately a couple of months ago, he started having pain in his abdomen, which prompted a new scan, and revealed a new tumor. After a biopsy, we received the devastating news that the cancer is back and has metastasized into peritoneum cancer. His oncologist said this was a terminal diagnosis. The only treatment options were to retry the chemo which he had an “allergic” reaction to previously or another chemo which only had a 10% to 15% chance of stopping tumor growth,  if he didn't have the same allergic reaction.  Obviously, that isn’t a treatment plan at all.

Hope at last

The care and support that Mike is getting at the Mayo clinic fantastic. After the doctors reviewed his medical files (which is the thicker than a medical dictionary), they were extremely shocked about how his initial treatment plan was handled. Specifically that they didn't do any type of chemo with the radiation and the reason from stopping chemo because of an "allergic" reaction. They were saying that the symptoms Mike initially had were normal and it couldn have been properly managed with medications. So the specialist at the mayo clinic came up with an aggressive chemo treatment plan which is providing all of us with some hope.