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Dear Friends and Family,
This is Ava-Rose writing with an update on my dad, Stephen Beech. As many of you know, in March 2018, my dad was diagnosed with a very rare brain stem tumor — a tectal glioma. In the past year and a half, Stephen has undergone multiple brain surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and recently, bladder surgery.
This year has been incredibly challenging for Stephen and for my family. Throughout everything, we continue to be amazed by the support, love, kind messages, visitors, generous donations and care we have received from family and friends. Chace, my mum, Stephen, and I have felt loved and encouraged throughout all the difficulties we have faced. My dad is making progress, but it is extremely slow.
I am writing now to reach out for financial support from anyone who is able to donate any amount.
Due to the location of my dad's tumor, many of his basic functions are impaired. He cannot walk and is in a wheelchair, has difficulty speaking, double vision and visual perception problems, and highly impaired motor skills. Additionally, his left arm is numb, and he has minimal mobility or physical independence. On the positive side, we have been able to find two wonderful caregivers, Ana and Angie, who help my family by taking care of Stephen on a daily basis. They are incredibly helpful.
Even with our amazing caregivers, Stephen still needs a very high level of care from me, my mum, and Chace. It’s a 24-hour job. I have spent the summer helping to care for my dad. However, I will be leaving at the end of August to go back to school. Additionally, Chace began graduate school for journalism a month ago at USC (which is immensely exciting). My mum has also started working full time again, having had to cut back considerably on work over the past year since my dad was diagnosed. When I leave, it will be very difficult for Chace and my mum to manage daily care for my dad, and get him to appointments and therapies, along with their own intense schedules.
There are some services and expenses that my family cannot currently afford that would make life much easier for everyone. Some of the expenses include: wheelchair accessible medical transport services to get my dad and caregivers to appointments, paving our driveway over with concrete so getting his wheelchair into the house will be easier, and additional medical equipment to make life easier for my dad. We also need funds to pay our caregivers who we have working full-time for us, as well as to pay for and additional at-home physical, speech, and occupational therapies to help my dad regain his motor skills.
Again, my family is so grateful for all the support and love we have received throughout this process, and anything you are able to give at all would be really helpful to us. I know not everyone is able to give, and of course, simply keeping my dad in your thoughts, and sharing this page with others, would be deeply appreciated. My dad has faced and continues to face every challenge with grace, bravery, and patience. I am constantly amazed by the perseverance and strength I see from my sister, mum, and dad. I am unendingly overwhelmed by the love so many of you have shown my family, and I know my dad is deeply impacted by all the support he has received.
Thank you all again for your love and support.
This is Ava-Rose writing with an update on my dad, Stephen Beech. As many of you know, in March 2018, my dad was diagnosed with a very rare brain stem tumor — a tectal glioma. In the past year and a half, Stephen has undergone multiple brain surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and recently, bladder surgery.
This year has been incredibly challenging for Stephen and for my family. Throughout everything, we continue to be amazed by the support, love, kind messages, visitors, generous donations and care we have received from family and friends. Chace, my mum, Stephen, and I have felt loved and encouraged throughout all the difficulties we have faced. My dad is making progress, but it is extremely slow.
I am writing now to reach out for financial support from anyone who is able to donate any amount.
Due to the location of my dad's tumor, many of his basic functions are impaired. He cannot walk and is in a wheelchair, has difficulty speaking, double vision and visual perception problems, and highly impaired motor skills. Additionally, his left arm is numb, and he has minimal mobility or physical independence. On the positive side, we have been able to find two wonderful caregivers, Ana and Angie, who help my family by taking care of Stephen on a daily basis. They are incredibly helpful.
Even with our amazing caregivers, Stephen still needs a very high level of care from me, my mum, and Chace. It’s a 24-hour job. I have spent the summer helping to care for my dad. However, I will be leaving at the end of August to go back to school. Additionally, Chace began graduate school for journalism a month ago at USC (which is immensely exciting). My mum has also started working full time again, having had to cut back considerably on work over the past year since my dad was diagnosed. When I leave, it will be very difficult for Chace and my mum to manage daily care for my dad, and get him to appointments and therapies, along with their own intense schedules.
There are some services and expenses that my family cannot currently afford that would make life much easier for everyone. Some of the expenses include: wheelchair accessible medical transport services to get my dad and caregivers to appointments, paving our driveway over with concrete so getting his wheelchair into the house will be easier, and additional medical equipment to make life easier for my dad. We also need funds to pay our caregivers who we have working full-time for us, as well as to pay for and additional at-home physical, speech, and occupational therapies to help my dad regain his motor skills.
Again, my family is so grateful for all the support and love we have received throughout this process, and anything you are able to give at all would be really helpful to us. I know not everyone is able to give, and of course, simply keeping my dad in your thoughts, and sharing this page with others, would be deeply appreciated. My dad has faced and continues to face every challenge with grace, bravery, and patience. I am constantly amazed by the perseverance and strength I see from my sister, mum, and dad. I am unendingly overwhelmed by the love so many of you have shown my family, and I know my dad is deeply impacted by all the support he has received.
Thank you all again for your love and support.