Patrick's Getting New Stem Cells!

Hi, my name is Stacey, and I am married to a pretty amazing human, Patrick, aka, The Big Guy! It is on his behalf and the opportunity to save his life that I am reaching out to you.

Not only is he my husband, but he is also my best friend, my favorite person to adventure with, to life with. Patrick is also a kick arss daddy to our two daughters and previously to 20 children in care within the foster system, not to mention our fur babies. He is a public servant and has been a Correctional Officer in Washington and Oregon State for almost 24 years. He is known for being firm but fair, for working with mental health adults in custody with grace and understanding. Beyond all of that making him a pretty amazing human, when he is not with us or at work, he is helping care for his blind, quadriplegic brother-in-law. Seriously, if it were not for his sauciness, which all who know and love him adore, the man could be considered a bit of a saint. For sure, you would want him on your team.

We now need you to be on his team. On February 27th of this year, Patrick who had had a tooth extraction the week prior was not feeling well and we headed to the urgent care to see what was up. By the end of the day, Patrick was being transported to the St. Luke's Regional Care Center in Boise, Idaho and was admitted to the cancer unit. On March 1st, Patrick was formally diagnosed with Acute Myelomonocytic Leukemia and to compound the diagnosis, he was hit with p53 & complex cytogenetics. Simply, the big guy has been hit with the worst of the worst.

After the initial round of chemo failed, the oncologists went into a "salvage treatment" and while they were dubious, IT WORKED! The work did not come without cost, he went into kidney failure and was put on dialysis, one day everything was shutting down and they thought he would need to be put into ICU, but he rallied and stayed put in Rm. 494. Patrick had a feeding tube; could not walk some days, had skin break down, he had four bone marrow biopsies.... cancer is beyond ugly and horrific, but he clawed and crawled and fought his way home after almost two months of warring. Then came our big miracle day, after the next round of chemo, we got the news on May 9th that he was in remission! Three days later we got the news he was in FULL remission, even the crazy genetic twists had been gotten. It was that week we were told that Patrick would be eligible for a Stem Cell Transplant, something we did not think would be possible and the one thing that will save his life as the maintenance chemo he receives will eventually fail him.

This is where you come in/on to Patrick's team. The oncology part of his team feels the best place for his stem cell transplant will be at The Fred Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle. They are the best of the best and actually where the first stem cell transplant took place. We have a telehealth consult with his oncologist at Fred Hutch on June 23rd and will know then when we will be called up...it could be as soon as two weeks after. We will be required to be in Seattle for approximately 4 months and live within 30 minutes (with consideration of traffic) of the center. We will have to stay at a place that can accommodate his lack of immune system after the transplant, aka, we cannot stay with friends/family. It is our hope to live at one of the two apartment buildings that Fred Hutch has for patients or at "Extended Stay America" who works with "The American Cancer Society" to offer discounted rates to cancer patients and their families. We have been told by our social worker at Fred Hutch, that we should budget between $2,000 and $3,000 per month for housing alone. We are asking for your help with this as we are currently without income and will be for the next three months and, while we do have insurance, this season is for sure taking a financial toll. ANY help at all you can give, passing this on to any person or community you feel might be able to help, would be so greatly appreciated. We are beyond grateful and humbled by all the support and love we receive.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.

Grateful with ALL of our hearts ~ Patrick, Stacey, Cloe and Brin