Help Joe, Erin and Their Kids Through Brain Cancer Battle

On May 20th, 2024, Joe Hargadon, 43, had a massive seizure in their home. He stopped breathing, and his wife Erin and their 13-year-old daughter had to resuscitate him. After being rushed to the hospital, they found a mass in his brain. He remained in the hospital for two weeks. The intensity of the seizure injured his kidneys, causing a condition called rhabdomyolysis. Once his kidneys stabilized, they performed a brain biopsy to determine the type of mass present in his brain. On July 5th, they were notified that the cellular structure of Joe's tumor was that of a Glioblastoma, IDH wild-type, with a mutation that has never been documented before and was sent to the National Institute for Health for further examination and observation. Glioblastoma is a grade 4, very aggressive form of brain cancer with a typical life expectancy of 12-18 months with the standard of treatment, brain tumor resection, oral chemotherapy, and daily radiation.

Joe had a craniotomy on July 29th at the University of Maryland Medical Center to remove the mass in his brain. August 22nd, he started chemo and radiation for 6 weeks, which will be followed by 6 more rounds of chemotherapy in the subsequent months. Additional treatments could be needed depending on how his brain cancer progresses and continues to behave. Joe is being treated by the University of Maryland Medical Center. He has received second opinions from Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University. On November 11th they will head to the Robert Tisch Brain Center at Duke to be seen by the Dr. Henry Friedman an internationally renowned neuro-oncologist.

Joe is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who works for the VA Hospital in Baltimore, helping veterans in the primary care department. His work life has been devoted to mental health and Social Work at Spring Grove Hospital, Sheppard Pratt, UMMC, and St. Agnes in Baltimore. In addition to his full-time hospital job before his seizure, he worked evenings and weekends in private practice as a mental health therapist.

As you can imagine, this prognosis has been devastating news to his family. The future they hoped to experience and provide for their children has changed significantly. They have been a one-income household for ten years; Erin paused her career in education to remain home with their three girls. Joe has worked hard to provide for his family as Erin put her career and passions on hold to raise their three daughters, Sophie (13), Cora Belle (8), and Willow (5). They have already felt the financial blow and loss of income from his inability to continue working in private practice mental health therapy. This next year and beyond, their financial challenges will be beyond anything they have planned for. This will include maintaining their mortgage, household bills, medical insurance, childcare, school tuition, medical bills, mental health therapy, transportation, travel expenses for medical treatment, end-of-life planning, and more without their primary income provider being unable to work as he was prior to diagnosis. Erin is actively seeking to return to the workplace in a capacity that considers all the levels of responsibility she will need to carry out for her family. She recognizes this may be a process as she realistically establishes their needs going forward.

They hope for a positive outcome but need to plan for the gravity of this diagnosis. Time spent together takes on a whole new meaning when you learn a loved one's life can be cut much shorter than ever expected. They hope that in the time left as a family, they can minimize financial stress as much as possible and spend quality time being present together making positive memories that last a lifetime for their girls. Keeping their children’s lives as undisrupted as possible is a big focus of theirs. Please help support them in this time of desperate need.

All levels of donation will help their family navigate this challenging time. No amount of planning ever prepares you for this type of situation. They are grateful for any help you can provide them. Every donation makes a significant impact for their family. Please forward their Go Fund me page through social media or any medium that you feel would be helpful. The more people this reaches, the better their chances of reaching their goal and alleviating the incredible stress they are navigating.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and help,

Cheryl Bernard-Smith on behalf of Erin Tucker, Joe Hargadon, Sophie (13), Cora Belle (8), and Willow (5)