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First off, let me start by saying that I can’t even begin to comprehend how lucky we are to have had so many people help and donate. Whether you gave my brother money, rides, laughs, dinner, thoughts, or prayers it HELPED! Throughout it all he kept repeating a phrase our Uncle Ray told him, “Where the mind goes, the body follows” and we truly believe that, so thank you for keeping our spirits up!
A year and a half ago Mike got very sick with Crohn’s Disease. He spent weeks in the hospital, and I’m sure some of you remember that back pack IV set-up pumping in nutrition for months because he was not able to eat! As Mike has done time and time again, he recovered, and was doing great with his new medication.
Well, then things got interesting. Unfortunately, Mike had an auto-immune disease, and the best option was to medicate with immune-suppressant medication, and that unlucky combination caused him to develop cancer of the immune system: Stage IV B-Cell Lymphoma. It took the doctors a few weeks to figure out what was even going because of the painful inflammatory reaction in his stomach. He had to stop the Crohn’s medication immediately and then start treating cancer - chemotherapy, spinal taps, scans, biopsies, self-administered IV meds, home visits, you name it.
Just before the final infusion of chemo, the Crohn’s caused the intestine wall to deteriorate and form a hole, leaking out bad stuff causing an uncontrollable infection. They had to perform an emergency surgery to divert his digestive track, so that the large intestine is not in use and has time to rest and heal. Won’t go into too many details, but trust it is not fun for him. It was a big adjustment, and requires constant medical supplies. Mike has had his ups and downs but mainly smiled through that whole experience.
So now they need to put him back together! First, they will examine the intestine and area where the infection once was and decide if a major surgery is needed if the damage is too severe.
Please let’s help my brother Mike get put back together!
A year and a half ago Mike got very sick with Crohn’s Disease. He spent weeks in the hospital, and I’m sure some of you remember that back pack IV set-up pumping in nutrition for months because he was not able to eat! As Mike has done time and time again, he recovered, and was doing great with his new medication.
Well, then things got interesting. Unfortunately, Mike had an auto-immune disease, and the best option was to medicate with immune-suppressant medication, and that unlucky combination caused him to develop cancer of the immune system: Stage IV B-Cell Lymphoma. It took the doctors a few weeks to figure out what was even going because of the painful inflammatory reaction in his stomach. He had to stop the Crohn’s medication immediately and then start treating cancer - chemotherapy, spinal taps, scans, biopsies, self-administered IV meds, home visits, you name it.
Just before the final infusion of chemo, the Crohn’s caused the intestine wall to deteriorate and form a hole, leaking out bad stuff causing an uncontrollable infection. They had to perform an emergency surgery to divert his digestive track, so that the large intestine is not in use and has time to rest and heal. Won’t go into too many details, but trust it is not fun for him. It was a big adjustment, and requires constant medical supplies. Mike has had his ups and downs but mainly smiled through that whole experience.
So now they need to put him back together! First, they will examine the intestine and area where the infection once was and decide if a major surgery is needed if the damage is too severe.
Please let’s help my brother Mike get put back together!
Organizer and beneficiary
Michael Giacomini
Beneficiary