My name is Grayson. I am 24 years old. Three years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 4 large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer.

Since then, most of my life has been organized around treatment schedules, scan dates, and waiting. I have gone through three different lines of chemotherapy, radiation, and a major surgery called an esophagectomy. Each treatment was chosen because it offered time, or the chance to reach another option.

Last year, I became the first person in Canada to receive an immunotherapy called Tarlatamab outside of a clinical trial. For the first time since my diagnosis, my scans improved. I could plan more than a few weeks ahead. That period lasted 18 months, and my experience helped move this drug toward becoming a standard option for others with aggressive cancers.

The cancer has now progressed, and Tarlatamab is no longer working for me. There are no additional targeted therapies or clinical trials in Canada that match my molecular profile. Under current guidelines, returning to older chemotherapy treatments is not supported. This leaves me with no viable options here.

Because of this, my family and I are seeking care in the United States. I have been accepted into a clinical trial in the Virginia/Washington, DC area, with my first appointment on March 9. This trial is the only remaining treatment option available to me.

The trial drug itself is covered, but everything required to access it is not. Initial visits occur weekly for the first few months and then every three weeks. We are responsible for flights, accommodations, drug administration, bloodwork, CT and MRI scans, and physician visits. Unfortunately, there is not government funding to support this. If we cannot cover these costs, I cannot stay in the trial.

I want to spend my time and energy on treatment and recovery, not on whether I will be able to keep showing up.

If you are able to donate, share, or support in any way, it would mean more to me than I can put into words. Every contribution helps relieve the stress on my family and allows me to keep doing what I’ve been doing for three years now; fighting with everything I have.

Thank you for believing in me.

— Grayson