Support Derek through chemotherapy

Hi, for those who don’t know me personally I’m Derek. I’m 25 years old and was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer in February of 2023. I’m currently going through 3 rounds of BEP chemotherapy. This treatment means I’m taking approximately 15-16 weeks off work and the purpose of this GoFundMe is to help cover some of the lost wages during this time so we can use it for necessities such as rent, utilities, groceries, etc. TL;DR: For those who don’t have the time to read my whole story. I have stage 2A testicular cancer and am currently undergoing 3 rounds of BEP chemotherapy. During this I am unable to work for 15-16+ weeks. My girlfriend of 2 years, Sarah, has also had to miss work weekly to take me to my infusion appointments. We moved in together at the start of February, the same time I received my cancer diagnosis. Fortunately, I have short term disability benefits through my employer. Unfortunately, this only covers 70% of my wages and money was already tight without missing out of 30% of my pay and Sarah not being able to work 40 hours a week. The goal I’ve set would cover most of me and Sarah’s lost wages during this time and would go directly towards rent, utilities, groceries, and other necessary expenses. This would help us not stress as much about money and avoid going into serious credit card debt during this time. If anyone would prefer to donate a (digital or physical) Meijer gift card to go directly towards groceries, rather than donating on here, please reach out to me or Sarah. We understand money is tight for a lot of people these days, we appreciate those who share this GoFundMe just as much as we appreciate those who are able to donate.❤️ My journey started in late January when I randomly felt a lump on my left testicle. Within a week I had gotten an ultrasound which showed multiple intratesticular lumps, which had a high likelihood of being cancerous. A week and a half later, on 2/10/23, I had an orchiectomy to remove my left testicle in order to biopsy the tumor. The results came back showing I had a mixed nonseminomatous germ cell tumor, consisting of 30% seminoma and 70% embryonal carcinoma. (Read more about the types of TC here.) Embryonal carcinoma is unfortunately one of the most aggressive forms of testicular cancer. The biopsy also showed I had lymphovascular invasion (LVI), meaning the tumor cells were also present in my blood vessels around the tumor and not specifically confined to the tumor. LVI is another indicator that the cancer is aggressive. This pathology meant I had Stage 1B testicular cancer. (Read more about testicular cancer staging here.) On 2/22/23, I received my first set of CT scans. I was extremely happy to receive the news that these scans came back clean with no signs of spread to lymph nodes or my lungs. I was then referred to an Oncologist at the IU Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis for further care. On 3/28/23, I had my first appointment with IU Oncology. This appointment was multiple hours long, included meeting with at least 4 different people, and honestly included more information than me or Sarah could absorb. However, it basically boiled down to one of two options. • Active surveillance: this would include frequent CT scans and blood work (every 3 months) to check if the cancer had come back. With the type of cancer I had and it’s aggressive nature, this would leave me with a 40-50% chance of the cancer reoccurring. • 1 round of BEP chemotherapy: If I did 1 round of chemo before the cancer had reoccurred I could do just 1 round of chemo. This would leave me with less than a 5% chance of the cancer reoccurring but put me at risk of the negative long term side effects of BEP chemo. BEP is a high dose, fairly intense chemotherapy, which is very effective but has a risk of some nasty side effects. I decided to opt for the chemo because the risk of serious long term side effects of the chemotherapy was outweighed by the 40-50% chance of the cancer coming back if I did not do chemo. As well as the fact that if the cancer did come back before doing chemo, I would then need to do 3 rounds of BEP rather than just 1. My BEP chemotherapy was scheduled to start on 5/8/23, with more CT scans and lab work to be done on 5/1/23 to ensure the cancer hadn’t come back before starting chemo. Unfortunately, upon receiving the results of my CT Scans, I was told that I had two enlarged retroperitoneal lymph nodes. The retroperitoneal lymph nodes are typically the first place that TC spreads when it spreads to the rest of your body. The largest of these two lymph nodes measured at 1.6cm, this now put me at stage 2A. These results also meant I was no longer eligible to proceed with only 1 round of BEP chemo. I now had to make a choice between two new, scarier options. 3 rounds of BEP chemo or an open radical lymph node dissection (RPLND) which is a fairly invasive surgery that involves surgically removing the enlarged lymph nodes. While the RPLND would mean an overall shorter recovery time, it would only remove the two enlarged lymph nodes and could leave cancer present in my body in lymph nodes that had not become enlarged yet, this would leave a 25-30% chance of the cancer reoccurring. If the cancer reoccurred after the RPLND I would then still have to proceed with 3 rounds of BEP despite having the surgery. While the 3 rounds of BEP chemo would hopefully kill off any and all cancer present in my body and would leave a chance of 5% or less of the cancer reoccurring. I opted for the 3 rounds of BEP chemo. I am currently in round 2 of 3. While things have definitely been rough at times, I am making it through it, staying strong, and hoping to avoid any possible long term serious side effects of the chemo. I hope to return to work in mid to late August as long as I am starting to feel better and my immune system has recovered. If you read this far I thank you for taking the time, and having the interest to read about my journey navigating all of this. The past 4 months have been a bit of a blur and have been very emotional and rough at times. However, I am determined to kick cancer’s ass and get back to a normal life after all of this is finished. We can’t wait camping, hiking, traveling, and doing all of our favorite things. I appreciate all the love and support from everyone in my life and anyone who shares or donates to this GoFundMe. Dealing with cancer definitely wasn’t what me and Sarah were hoping to be doing right after moving in together for the first time. It has been very emotional and hard on both of us at times but I’m very grateful to have had her right by my side through all of this and couldn’t be doing this without her. The goal I have set for this would help cover most of the wages lost by both of us during this time. This would greatly reduce the amount of stress we’re feeling financially and will help us afford necessary expenses while avoiding credit card debt. Thank you so much to anyone who is able to donate to this GoFundMe. If you’re unable to donate, we understand and just ask that you please share this if possible.