Save Joao; Stage 4 metastatis cancer &cancer fund

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all well.

The VilarFamily has come here today to share our story and ask for your help. Joao, my husband and the loving father of 4 beautiful children and his little dog, has been the biggest blessing and provider in our lives for over 25 years.

LATEST UPDATE:

As some may know, Joao was initially diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in December 2018, which quickly spread to his liver and lungs (2019-20). In 2021, we unfortunately noted that he had a lump in his frontal lobe which turned out to be a brain tumor that quickly spread to the rest of his body.

On January 13th 2022, we received the worst news we could ever receive. Doctors advised that Joao shouldn't perform surgery due to the risk that Joao could enter a vegetative state and never speak or walk again and therefore gave us the news that no treatment was available for him and he is only expected to live another 8 weeks.

We are completely distraught with the news that Joao is only expected to live a few weeks and want to ask for help. This would hopefully help us keep researching treatments or any methods to ease his pain and provide him with the best remaining time he has, and also help prepare us for future preparations that may have to be made if the worse occurs. This is something Joao really wants to make happen in the precious time he has left, to take some weight off our shoulders and make sure his family is well taken care of.

THE FULL STORY:

On December 13th 2018, we received the most devastating news of our lives which continues to haunt us; that my husband had been diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer which in later appointments we were advised that it had spread to his liver and lungs. Picture of this horrible day :(

From that moment, our lives came crashing down. Joao was rushed to begin treatments as soon as possible due to the severity of his cancer - but he would need to undergo an operation first to remove the tumour in his bowel (Sigmoid colectomy and anastomosis) on the 6th Feb 2019.

Not long after the operation, he was rushed to begin 5 cycle of Chemotheropathy Neoadjuvant FOLFOX to good PR DPD mutation present therefore 35% 5FU + GCSF. (March 2019 -May 2019).

Joao had suffered a lot up to this point but it was not the end as on the 5th of July, he had to undergo another major operation (the excision of the liver lesion) and it had seemed that everything went well as no recurrence of the disease had been noted anywhere on his body! From that point, neither of us were capable of working because he was still recovering and I had to care for him, and things only worsened in April 2020 when we received the worst news that my husband had relapsed and CT CAP revealed liver metastases and pelvic recurrence. He had to begin treatment once again. May 2020 he started treatment FOLFIRI Cetuximab (more chemo) which all worked out good up until Feb 2021 where he received cycle 18 FOLFIRI/ Cetux. As chemo seemed to work for him, he began a 5 week treatment of radiotherapy to get rid of this disease from his body. However, on 23rd April 2021, Joao began complaining about a lump on the left side of his head and it was identified as a Large metastasis deposit in his left frontal bone with a bulky dural component indenting the left frontal lobe.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Joao was informed that the lump on his head was in fact a large tumor and surgery was recommended by the doctors to remove the tumor pressing on his brain and affecting his speech, memory and quality of life. However, during the 5 week radiation, he had relapsed and it was found that tumors had spread all over his body. In May, doctors, therefore, advised that surgery was not the best option and instead began 5 stronger sessions of radiotherapy to his head. Joao's health deteriorated and he was not the same man; he became very down during this period and began chemotherapy which caused his hair loss and we shaved his head.

This continued up until September 2021, when we noted that the tumor continued to grow and it didn't seem that the treatments were helping. We noted that Joao was not doing well as he became very confused and would often lose track of his thoughts in November so chemotherapy was stopped. He continued having various hospital visits, MRIs and PET scans but his health only got worse when he began having severe back pains. On New Years Eve, he was unfortunately rushed to the hospital due to his confusion and pain and spent the new year there and away from his family. Beginning of January 2022, it was advised that he would have emergency surgery to remove the tumor from his brain, we began preparing for this surgery but came to find out the following day, following all the scans done, that surgery would no longer be an option as it was found that the tumor had actually grown twice its size in a short time and there was no guarantee that he would be able to speak, walk or even make it out of the surgery.

Having endured all of this, on the 13th January 2022, we got the worst news anyone could ever receive. Due to the rapid growth of cancer in his brain and frontal lobe and due to the spread of cancer to his bones, Joao was given weeks to live. This would hopefully help us keep researching treatments or any methods to ease his pain and provide him with the best remaining time he has, and also help prepare us for future preparations that may have to be made if the worse occurs. This is something Joao really wants to make happen in the precious time he has left, to take some weight off our shoulders and make sure his family is well taken care of.

Joao has always been the centre of our worlds, our strength and our WHOLE LIFE. Having received the news that he only has a few weeks left has completely destroyed our worlds - but we will NEVER give up!

Love, the VilarFamily! ♥