I'm going to beat this.
Donation protected
My name is Nick Karasch. I'm 28 years old from Decatur, Michigan. I have a B.S. in Computer Science from Western Michigan University and when I could I worked as a City Carrier Assistant for USPS. My dream job was always to be a Software Engineer or have one of my personal programming projects I spent all of my free time on take off and find success.
In elementary school I was 99th percentile on all standardized tests and operated on a different level from anyone else my age in my hometown when it came to Math and anything where twisted logic gave you an advantage. My favorite book in Kindergarden was “How Much Is a Million?”, in first grade I discovered addition could prove subtraction and vice-versa independently and shocked my teacher, in second grade I started programming in QBasic on MS-DOS 6.22. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a good writer, was never the absolute top notch student, and I’ve always been a bit of an oddball but I was born with a special trait.
By high school I started having problems with focus and anger and barely graduated even though I still managed to do fine in the accelerated math program. College took me eight years including an academic dismissal when I became nearly a full recluse for a year and didn’t go to class. Upon re-entry I developed even more extreme anxiety/panic attack problems, by the end I was having other strange issues and could barely read. But I finished.
How could so much potential result in such disappointment and waste when there was never anything but good intentions? It turns out I had a tumor growing in my head for an estimated twenty years and displacing different parts of my brain.
Around midnight on July 23rd, 2016 I had my first seizure, luckily I was a few minutes from Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo instead of the middle of nowhere that I’m from and I wasn’t alone. ER got me in right away and coming into my second seizure they knocked me out and gave me an MRI immediately. They found a roughly 5” x 3” x 1.5” tumor in my skull that was mostly growing into my left temporal lobe. They got me in for a surgery with a well respected surgeon to remove the ⅔ that wasn’t intertwined with my brain two days later and did an amazing job.
The original theory following surgery was that it was most likely a low grade glioma and would slowly grow back to the point where I would need a similar surgery in another twenty years or so. I thought I would be out of work for roughly six weeks, unable to legally drive for six months due to the seizures I had, but life would eventually continue like normal. My original summary on GoFundMe was from that perspective. I was just looking for help paying my bills for the short amount of time I thought I wouldn’t be able to work.
On August 12th I had my first follow up appointment at the West Michigan Cancer Center where a team of six top notch doctors had reviewed my case and biopsy results that morning. Here is where my life changed forever. I was diagnosed with Anaplastic Astrocytoma which is a rare stage 3 brain cancer that currently has no known cure and terrible statistics when it comes to life expectancy. I start radiation and chemotherapy in hopes to slow its growth on September 6th.
While being 28 years old and finding out you probably have a short time to live creates a mental whirlwind that is probably unimaginable it is finally settling down. I’m almost fully recovered from my surgery and back to normal. I’m going to do my best to get my health into a state where I can to return to work. The statistics that say 50% make it 1-2 years and 25% make it five years can be thrown away, I’m no longer taking them seriously. Technology is advancing at such a seemingly exponential rate there has been no better time to come down with terminal brain cancer. New treatments such as immunotherapy and maybe even cannabis oil are showing a lot of potential as well. It gives me a lot of hope, the only thing holding me together.
Like I mentioned earlier, when I originally posted this I had no idea what the true situation was. I was looking for about $1000 to help pay some bills for a short timeframe and never shared the GoFundMe with anyone. After several weeks someone found it, it got a share which led to hundreds more and I’ve been overwhelmed by the response. The generosity has been unbelievable.
After receiving my final diagnosis things changed, I have strong support from my parents when it comes to paying my bills. They say don’t worry about it but I do. My first priority is to take the load off of them as much as I can. My second goal is to be able to do the things I’ve always wanted to do in case I don’t make it very long. I really want to travel New York -> DC -> Florida, visit the west coast, and hopefully even tour Europe and Asia. I’ve always wanted to see the world but never had a chance to. Some of this money is already dedicated to these bucket list goals. I don’t know when my health will be stabilized enough to travel but I have every intention of making it happen. Let me be clear, I’m not absolutely desperate for your money and little guilt comes with the excitement of every donation. It is appreciated beyond words and will benefit me greatly in achieving my goals but if you see someone on here in a more desperate situation give it to them.
Finally, I want to thank everyone for the support. The people from my hometown, my family, and total strangers have overwhelmed me with love. It’s not every day a shy nerdy weirdo who is a former recluse from a small town gets this much attention and help. This has been awesome and I didn’t see it coming. Thank you all so much!
In elementary school I was 99th percentile on all standardized tests and operated on a different level from anyone else my age in my hometown when it came to Math and anything where twisted logic gave you an advantage. My favorite book in Kindergarden was “How Much Is a Million?”, in first grade I discovered addition could prove subtraction and vice-versa independently and shocked my teacher, in second grade I started programming in QBasic on MS-DOS 6.22. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a good writer, was never the absolute top notch student, and I’ve always been a bit of an oddball but I was born with a special trait.
By high school I started having problems with focus and anger and barely graduated even though I still managed to do fine in the accelerated math program. College took me eight years including an academic dismissal when I became nearly a full recluse for a year and didn’t go to class. Upon re-entry I developed even more extreme anxiety/panic attack problems, by the end I was having other strange issues and could barely read. But I finished.
How could so much potential result in such disappointment and waste when there was never anything but good intentions? It turns out I had a tumor growing in my head for an estimated twenty years and displacing different parts of my brain.
Around midnight on July 23rd, 2016 I had my first seizure, luckily I was a few minutes from Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo instead of the middle of nowhere that I’m from and I wasn’t alone. ER got me in right away and coming into my second seizure they knocked me out and gave me an MRI immediately. They found a roughly 5” x 3” x 1.5” tumor in my skull that was mostly growing into my left temporal lobe. They got me in for a surgery with a well respected surgeon to remove the ⅔ that wasn’t intertwined with my brain two days later and did an amazing job.
The original theory following surgery was that it was most likely a low grade glioma and would slowly grow back to the point where I would need a similar surgery in another twenty years or so. I thought I would be out of work for roughly six weeks, unable to legally drive for six months due to the seizures I had, but life would eventually continue like normal. My original summary on GoFundMe was from that perspective. I was just looking for help paying my bills for the short amount of time I thought I wouldn’t be able to work.
On August 12th I had my first follow up appointment at the West Michigan Cancer Center where a team of six top notch doctors had reviewed my case and biopsy results that morning. Here is where my life changed forever. I was diagnosed with Anaplastic Astrocytoma which is a rare stage 3 brain cancer that currently has no known cure and terrible statistics when it comes to life expectancy. I start radiation and chemotherapy in hopes to slow its growth on September 6th.
While being 28 years old and finding out you probably have a short time to live creates a mental whirlwind that is probably unimaginable it is finally settling down. I’m almost fully recovered from my surgery and back to normal. I’m going to do my best to get my health into a state where I can to return to work. The statistics that say 50% make it 1-2 years and 25% make it five years can be thrown away, I’m no longer taking them seriously. Technology is advancing at such a seemingly exponential rate there has been no better time to come down with terminal brain cancer. New treatments such as immunotherapy and maybe even cannabis oil are showing a lot of potential as well. It gives me a lot of hope, the only thing holding me together.
Like I mentioned earlier, when I originally posted this I had no idea what the true situation was. I was looking for about $1000 to help pay some bills for a short timeframe and never shared the GoFundMe with anyone. After several weeks someone found it, it got a share which led to hundreds more and I’ve been overwhelmed by the response. The generosity has been unbelievable.
After receiving my final diagnosis things changed, I have strong support from my parents when it comes to paying my bills. They say don’t worry about it but I do. My first priority is to take the load off of them as much as I can. My second goal is to be able to do the things I’ve always wanted to do in case I don’t make it very long. I really want to travel New York -> DC -> Florida, visit the west coast, and hopefully even tour Europe and Asia. I’ve always wanted to see the world but never had a chance to. Some of this money is already dedicated to these bucket list goals. I don’t know when my health will be stabilized enough to travel but I have every intention of making it happen. Let me be clear, I’m not absolutely desperate for your money and little guilt comes with the excitement of every donation. It is appreciated beyond words and will benefit me greatly in achieving my goals but if you see someone on here in a more desperate situation give it to them.
Finally, I want to thank everyone for the support. The people from my hometown, my family, and total strangers have overwhelmed me with love. It’s not every day a shy nerdy weirdo who is a former recluse from a small town gets this much attention and help. This has been awesome and I didn’t see it coming. Thank you all so much!
Organizer
Nick Karasch
Organizer
Cassopolis, MI