Sean Riley Cancer Fund

I think it's safe to say that no one knows a family that hasn't been impacted by cancer and October 2018 it was my family's turn.  My brother Sean was diagnosed with colorectal cancer that had spread to his liver.   Sean is a loving, hardworking and dedicated husband, father, brother, cousin and friend. Most cancer patients spend more for out of pocket medical expenses than was anticipated.  Sean was lucky that he was able to continue working while undergoing chemotherapy last fall.  Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to return to work due to complications from his treatment.  His future treatment plan is not yet finalized but will include more chemotherapy, radiation and surgeries.   We have set up this page to help Sean and Vickey with the cost of current and future expenses.

While being treated Sean worked with the American Cancer Society to effect change in Maine state law to require health insurance to cover cancer screening for younger patients.  He was hoping to testify at a public hearing on this bill but was back in the hospital and had his statement read before the legislators instead.  Below Sean will give you his story in his own words:

I am Sean Riley of Falmouth, ME husband and father of a daughter and son. I am currently recuperating from my 2nd of several anticipated cancer surgeries.

 I still recall the sinking look on my wife Vickey's face when we were told that I had cancer. In my heart I knew something was not right but when those words are spoken it officially becomes your family's most life changing moment. 

I am an otherwise healthy individual and never expected to be battling cancer in my mid 40's. I am 6 ft 178 lbs and see my doctor annually and have little to complain about medically. My cancer story starts back in spring of 2018 when I noticed some small rectal bleeding and blood in my stools. While alarming, I initially didn't think it was significant enough to rush to the emergency room. I wondered if I ate something bad, had a virus or was this really blood at all? My older sister had several large polyps removed in the summer of 2017 and her doctor recommended all her siblings be proactive and be screened too. I waited a week and then discussed it with my wife and told her I was reaching out to my Primary Care Doctor and requesting a colorectal cancer screening asap.

Unfortunately it took several weeks to get into my primary care and then 5 months to have a colonoscopy. This waiting time was not easy, symptoms did not stop and I continued on with life hoping for the best results during my scope in the fall.  Unfortunately my results revealed stage 2 colorectal cancer that spread to my liver. I was quickly entered into a treatment plan. Thankfully after reviewing my colonoscopy results and some additional testing my medical team concluded my cancer was treatable, operable and survivable. It would be a long fall, winter and spring with 2 rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and several cancer surgeries. I continued working and driving the kids to and from school daily (400 miles a week). Chemotherapy was Oct through Christmas and then a week of amped up Radiation treatment ended in January of 2019.   I had my first surgery Feb 12th which was successful in removing the tumor from my colon. I returned home and to work 12 days later.

Unfortunately after recovering from my surgery I developed a nasty infection. My return to work lasted 1 day as severe lower back pain sent me back to the operating table. A procedure to place a pelvic drain in my right buttock (haha) was used along with antibiotics to reduce the infection. This was a torturous 3 plus weeks. The infection pain was relentless even with painkillers and the drain location was just as painful as I was unable to sit or even lie on my back for more than a few minutes. Worse, the sutures that would allow me to reverse my iliostomy were leaking, causing fluid to create a pocket right below my tailbone. This meant delays in healing and moving forward to treat the liver cancer and reattaching my digestive system to normal functions.

Unfortunately tissue is often damaged and weak from radiation making surgical recovery complicated. I was readmitted to the hospital for a week of IV medication and pain management.  In late March the decision was made to operate again after CT scan revealed my sutures were not sealing. The procedure was to clean the infection, move the pelvic drain to the front abdomen where it is less painful, check colon sutures and transplant healthy abdominal tissue into the infected pocket to promote blood flow and healing.

I am now home again. I am not on pain killers anymore yeah... I am recovering and gaining strength slowly after dropping 20 lbs post surgeries and 30 lbs overall. I now resemble the skinny kid you remember (with gray hair...) I hope to return to work soon. Missing work has been tough both financially and personally. I can count on 1 hand the number of days I had missed work in 29 years. Vickey and the kids have been strong but it has been tough on everyone including family far and near.

 I am not a social media person I would much rather be in the company of the ones I care about than send a text, post or tweet (remember the Dominican...) Unfortunately that isn't always possible as we live such hectic lives. I was asked if I would be interested in a go fund page and I was initially hesitant. After hearing family members tell me about relatives and friends reaching out and their desire to help this made our decision easier.

I am not private about my fight against cancer in fact I hope my story will help another family or individual choose to get screened. As I told the American Cancer Society and wrote in my statement to the State Legislature, if I can help one person not have too suffer the way I have then I will do whatever I can. Funds will go to paying my medical expenses including the copays, coinsurance and patient portions of bills that do and will continue to pile up. I was meticulous about not letting one bill get overlooked as our family is getting ready to close on our new home in Brunswick Maine.

While I was recovering I worked with the American Cancer Society in Maine to help pass legislation (LD555) to lower cancer screening ages requiring medical insurance to pay for earlier tests for at risk patients to age 45 instead of 50. This adheres to the new medical guidelines. If you are 45 ask your doctor about being screened for colorectal cancer as it is the 2nd highest cancer killer in the country. If I was screened at 50 my situation would have not been as optimistic.

Enough preaching.... Hopefully this summer I will be recovered from liver surgery and finishing 3 months of chemo  and starting a new chapter of my life as a cancer survivor and advocate.

Peace and Love to you all Sean Vickey Nia Nevin

Thank you for considering donating to Sean and his family and for sharing this page with anyone you feel would like to help!