PLEASE HELP!!! Good man battling CLL!!!

My name is Cory Fisher. I’m here to kindly ask for help with my dad, Shawn Fisher. My dad is a very kind man, always wanting to keep things light and make those around him smile. For those of you that know me, I’m sure you’ve seen those traits in me as well. The secret's out, I’m pretty sure my sunny disposition and quick wit came from him. My dad is a hard worker, spending decades beating his body up as an auto mechanic, at one point even working so far away that he left at 6 in the morning and didn’t get home until 8 in the evening. He never complained; he just did what he needed to for his family. Those years of beating on his body led to surgeries on his lower back, carpal tunnel, and in the last few years, several on his cervical spine, ultimately leading to him being disabled as the damage to his neck caused severe nerve damage in his arms. Through ALL of that, he’s always had a smile, choosing to keep making others smile, and being there for his family, his loving wife of over 20 years, Dawn, and especially his grandkids.

Approximately 14 years ago, my dad was diagnosed with CLL (Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia). The first few years were really hard for him. At that point, he was still working, but the psychology of having the “C” word hanging over him was tough, even for someone with such eternal optimism. They told him at that time that he would most likely live a pretty long life, and that you could go a long time without needing treatment, but things can become very dynamic if you do require treatment. As the years faded on, my dad grew used to living with the “C” word, and even as he went through a few years of brutal neck surgeries most recently, he was in very good spirits. Even though he’s permanently disabled, he recently tried to work part-time at Home Depot, but unfortunately, his neck was just too damaged to allow for his body to tolerate it. Through even that, and the dejection of not even being able to contribute in even the most basic way, he still keeps smiling and making those around him smile.

This brings us to today, May 2nd, 2025. On my dad’s last oncology visit a few weeks ago, they told him that his platelet count had been trending down, and that it was likely to soon dip below the 100 mark, which would then require treatment. They then proceeded to tell my dad that the treatment was only two years and would only cost $100,000/year. My dad then replied, “Well, I guess I’ll just die then, I’m not going to do that to my family.” Again, not thinking about himself, but everyone else. In the intervening weeks, my dad has developed a very swollen spleen. They began to work him up for treatment because he cannot afford to lose his spleen, as it would make his prognosis much worse. They had done genetic testing last week, an MRI this week, and had planned to do a bone marrow biopsy next week, all of which would have helped optimize the treatment. Today, they called him to let him know his spleen is far too enlarged to wait, so they need to start him on treatment immediately, and will optimize it as they get more data.

We still don’t know how much treatment will actually be. After the initial quote of $100,000, we began looking into options like ordering from Canada, and what type of Medicare supplements might help if we can get to open enrollment in about a year. We believe the cost might land in the $30,000/year range, but on his last visit, they said it might be around $20,000. Obviously, people on a fixed income can’t really handle any of those numbers, even if they’re trending in a better direction.

All of this to say, this is a really good man, going through something that is all too common in our society. I would never ask anyone to take food out of their own family’s mouths, especially in difficult financial times like these. But I do ask for anyone out there that can spare something, I can just tell you that you couldn’t be helping out a better person.

*UPDATE 5/5/25: My dad got news today that they believe his medication regimen will include $300/month of pills. This is reasonably manageable. However, the infusion that he’ll need (Obinutazumab) is $69,000 for the year. The good news is they say he’ll only need the year of treatment. Now we just have to pay for it. Please share his story, even if just 70,000 nice people would be willing to donate a dollar we could get there