Rob's Cancer Journey
Doação protegida
Let me start out by introducing my family. We are a very fun-loving and close knit family of four. My dad, Rob, my mom, Sherry, my older sister, Alysha and of course me, Cassandra.
As many of you know, my family has had a very tough year. It all started when my dad was 32 and diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease. When he got the diagnosis, he knew that it was not curable and could eventually end up on dialysis or have a possible kidney transplant.
Fast forward to 2016, where my dad was only 50 years old. He went for one of his regular check ups with his kidney doctor and ended up down at emergency because the doctor believed that his kidneys were failing. At this point in time, his kidneys were functioning at 10%. Later that evening he had gone through surgery and received his very first dialysis treatment. My dad was pretty upset about this to say the least but he kept his mind positive and lived day by day. A couple months later, him and my mom went through a 6 week training for home hemo. Which meant that instead of spending 4 hours, three times a week at the hospital for dialysis, he would be able to receive it at home.
Everything was going fairly well considering the circumstances until mid December 2016. My dad said something that I never in a million years thought I would hear. "I have prostate cancer" he blurted out while on our way home from an appointment. Let's just say that car ride home was very quiet. We were shocked. After going to Hamilton to see a surgeon, we received some pretty horrible news. The cancer my dad has is a very fast growing and aggressive cancer and we had not caught it in enough time and he was not able to have his prostate removed. From that point on, it has been an uphill battle. On January 1st 2017, my dad was hospitalized for about a week with a blood infection. Which set him back even further. Between doctors appointments, and hours and hours of dialysis, my dad slowly began to get weaker. Causing him to take time off of work. If anyone knows my dad, it's that he loves to work. For him, work is his happy place. Finally he was able to return to work safely and things were starting to look up. Until he received one part of his three year treatment for his prostate cancer. Every three months, he receives a needle to help slow down his testosterone so that the cancer essentially stops growing and spreading. Now this needle plays a very important role in his treatment but unfortunately it comes at a large cost of $1000 per shot. In three short months, it ate up my families drug insurance so the rest of my families prescriptions have had to come out of our pocket. But this shot eventually became his worst nightmare, not only because of its cost, but his whole body broke out in a very itchy and annoying rash that covered him from head to toe. This rash was the worst thing I had ever seen and took a very big toll on my dad. Just as the rash was at its peak, my dad began his 39 radiation treatments. For the most part, my dad handled it like a champ, but the last two weeks hit him hard. He took some time off work to heal from his last couple radiation treatments because he was just completely exhausted. He was never really able to recover from radiation because he was hit even harder with the same blood infection that he had at the beginning of the year. This one kept him hospitalized for about two weeks. Since then, my dad has been extremely tired, sore, out of breath and weak.
My dad has not been able to return to work following his radiation treatment and infection. Causing financial difficulties within our family. We are not the kind of family to ask for anything, but right now we need your help. Whether that be a prayer, a smile, or a small donation. Anything will help. We thank each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts who have supported us along this incredibly hard journey. Your love and kindness will never be forgotten.
Thank you all SO much
Lots of love,
Cassandra
As many of you know, my family has had a very tough year. It all started when my dad was 32 and diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease. When he got the diagnosis, he knew that it was not curable and could eventually end up on dialysis or have a possible kidney transplant.
Fast forward to 2016, where my dad was only 50 years old. He went for one of his regular check ups with his kidney doctor and ended up down at emergency because the doctor believed that his kidneys were failing. At this point in time, his kidneys were functioning at 10%. Later that evening he had gone through surgery and received his very first dialysis treatment. My dad was pretty upset about this to say the least but he kept his mind positive and lived day by day. A couple months later, him and my mom went through a 6 week training for home hemo. Which meant that instead of spending 4 hours, three times a week at the hospital for dialysis, he would be able to receive it at home.
Everything was going fairly well considering the circumstances until mid December 2016. My dad said something that I never in a million years thought I would hear. "I have prostate cancer" he blurted out while on our way home from an appointment. Let's just say that car ride home was very quiet. We were shocked. After going to Hamilton to see a surgeon, we received some pretty horrible news. The cancer my dad has is a very fast growing and aggressive cancer and we had not caught it in enough time and he was not able to have his prostate removed. From that point on, it has been an uphill battle. On January 1st 2017, my dad was hospitalized for about a week with a blood infection. Which set him back even further. Between doctors appointments, and hours and hours of dialysis, my dad slowly began to get weaker. Causing him to take time off of work. If anyone knows my dad, it's that he loves to work. For him, work is his happy place. Finally he was able to return to work safely and things were starting to look up. Until he received one part of his three year treatment for his prostate cancer. Every three months, he receives a needle to help slow down his testosterone so that the cancer essentially stops growing and spreading. Now this needle plays a very important role in his treatment but unfortunately it comes at a large cost of $1000 per shot. In three short months, it ate up my families drug insurance so the rest of my families prescriptions have had to come out of our pocket. But this shot eventually became his worst nightmare, not only because of its cost, but his whole body broke out in a very itchy and annoying rash that covered him from head to toe. This rash was the worst thing I had ever seen and took a very big toll on my dad. Just as the rash was at its peak, my dad began his 39 radiation treatments. For the most part, my dad handled it like a champ, but the last two weeks hit him hard. He took some time off work to heal from his last couple radiation treatments because he was just completely exhausted. He was never really able to recover from radiation because he was hit even harder with the same blood infection that he had at the beginning of the year. This one kept him hospitalized for about two weeks. Since then, my dad has been extremely tired, sore, out of breath and weak.
My dad has not been able to return to work following his radiation treatment and infection. Causing financial difficulties within our family. We are not the kind of family to ask for anything, but right now we need your help. Whether that be a prayer, a smile, or a small donation. Anything will help. We thank each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts who have supported us along this incredibly hard journey. Your love and kindness will never be forgotten.
Thank you all SO much
Lots of love,
Cassandra
Organizadora
Cassandra Plouffe
Organizadora
Waterloo South, ON
