Support Dad's Battle Against Esophageal Cancer

In August 2024 my Dad, Mike Rennie was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer.

He is the most genuine, kindhearted, and selfless person you could know! He is such a proud Papa to his grandkids, who are 3, 4, and 6 and they just adore him!

This was shocking news as he always ate a healthy diet, isn't overweight, doesn't drink, and did what he thought would help him avoid cancer! As it turns out, Esophageal cancer is usually silent until it’s too late, but he happened to catch it before it metastasized.

My parents have had to make a few trips to Los Angeles for testing and to come up with a treatment for this aggressive cancer. The treatment team decided on a chemo sandwich effect, which consisted of a very aggressive chemo followed by major surgery and finished with the same aggressive chemo. He started with an 8-week chemotherapy regimen in Boise that was very intense. For the surgery, they have had to get an apartment near Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles as it takes a very experienced surgeon to do an esophagectomy and he won’t be able to fly for a few weeks after surgery. They will remove most of his esophagus and lymph node’s and then they take his stomach, bring it up, and attach it to the small part of the esophagus that is left after they remove the cancer. He won’t have much stomach left, and things will be very different, but this is what is necessary for the most effective treatment for his type of cancer. After this procedure, he will still need to go through another 8 weeks of intense chemotherapy.

As he cannot work and has had so many expenses, the apartment is costing $6,000, airfare so far totaling over $3,000, and many other bills with no income; we are hoping we can make this burden a little bit easier by starting this fundraiser.

We are grateful for everyone who has given prayers, well wishes and support during this difficult time. Together we can help lift some of the burden so he can focus on his health and recovery in the months ahead.