Support Keenan's Fight Against Pancreatic Cancer

We are Katie, Amber, and Josh, and we’ve created this GoFundMe on behalf of our 30-year-old brother, Keenan Alley, as he fights against pancreatic cancer. While most or all of his medical expenses—thankfully— appear to be covered, his medical team has informed him that he will not be able to do any kind of work for four to six months following his major surgery in early June, so he is going to need a lot of help with covering his rent and other living expenses until he is able to return to work. For the last couple years, he has been a full-time student with two part-time jobs while he completed a degree in computer programming. He graduated with high honors on May 10, 2024.

Following two years of suffering bouts of severe upper and lower gastrointestinal illness, Keenan was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in November of 2023. He has a large tumor on his pancreas, another large tumor near his duodenum (which connects the lower intestine to the stomach), and the cancer has metastasized to the lymph nodes in that area of his body. His condition causes his body to produce extreme amounts of gastrin, a hormone responsible for promoting acid secretion. As a result, a massive amount of gastric acid is continuously pumped into his GI tract, causing ulcers throughout. He is currently being treated with medications in an attempt to control the acid production and manage his symptoms. Because there is low blood flow to the area of the tumors, chemotherapy is not indicated as an effective treatment, leaving a very complicated and long surgery (6+ hours) as his only option. The surgery will remove significant parts of Keenan’s gastro-intestinal tract, including one third of his stomach, a large part of his pancreas, his entire duodenum, and his gallbladder, along with the impacted lymph nodes.

Because of the rarity of this disease in conjunction with it being especially uncommon in someone of Keenan’s age, there isn’t much reliable information about outcomes and what we can expect, other than the hope that he will be able to resume his normal life, for the most part, following his surgery and lengthy recovery. Longer term outcomes are unknown, but we’re staying hopeful that Keenan will be able to have a long and fulfilling life.

Keenan's outlook throughout this entire ordeal has been incredibly positive. He continues to be his amazingly funny, happy self even though the cards he has been dealt would be devastating to even the strongest of spirits.

It took Keenan a few extra years to find his path in life, and now he has this major obstacle to overcome as he moves on from his schooling to start a career. We could dwell on how incredibly unfair it is—and believe me, we have all done our fair share—but doing so ultimately doesn’t change anything, which is why we are humbly requesting you to join us in supporting Keenan as he goes through this incredibly difficult time. Together we can allow him to focus on what’s most important—his recovery. We appreciate you taking the time to read about his situation, and we would be so deeply grateful for anything you are able to contribute to support him.