My name is Danielle Christensen, and I am writing on behalf of my uncle Rick Crowe. I live in Oakville, Ontario just a few minutes down the road from Rick who lives in Burlington, Ontario. In August of 2021, Rick began developing paralysis in his left foot that slowly spread up his leg and to his left hand and the left side of his face. He went for numerous MRIs and had all kinds of bloodwork and tests done, but the doctors failed to find the cause of the problem. Over the last few months his leg has started giving out, and he had a bad fall on Saturday, March 12th, 2022. He was taken to the hospital, where they found a tumour growing on the right side of his brain that they explained was extensive and serious.
After that hospital visit, he met with a neurosurgeon who did more tests and scans and confirmed that he had a very large tumour. It was only on the right side and the doctors said it was one of the largest tumours they had ever seen. Unfortunately, they said they could not remove it surgically due to the way it had webbed itself through his brain. They told him they would still have to do surgery to get a piece of the tumour for a biopsy. On Tuesday, April 5th, 2022 he had the operation and we received the biopsy results around three weeks later. He was diagnosed with a grade two or three glioma, but they are still figuring out exactly which grade it is. They have set him up to do radiation and chemo simultaneously starting Tuesday, May 24th, so his body will be going through a lot on top of the paralysis he is experiencing.
The paralysis and loss of his driver's license caused him to lose his job and he has been struggling to find a new job and keep on top of bills while out of work. We ideally want him to be able to focus entirely on treatment and his health and not have to stress about how to work and provide for himself while he goes through this. We hope to raise enough money to help support him through his treatment and to help with medical costs and any experimental treatments that might be available. We thank you for any donations and encourage everyone who can't donate to share his gofundme and try to get the word out so we can help him!!
I will be withdrawing the funds on Rick’s behalf and sending them to him every time I receive them through an e-transfer, so there will be a record of everything I have sent to him for transparency. He will also have access to this account to keep track of what’s being donated. The money will go towards household bills during his treatment, recovery time and a potential second round of treatment, transportation to and from the hospital when needed and any excess medical expenses that come with his condition. We would also like to keep some of the money aside incase any experimental treatments or clinical trials become available that might not be covered, or only partially covered, by OHIP.
After that hospital visit, he met with a neurosurgeon who did more tests and scans and confirmed that he had a very large tumour. It was only on the right side and the doctors said it was one of the largest tumours they had ever seen. Unfortunately, they said they could not remove it surgically due to the way it had webbed itself through his brain. They told him they would still have to do surgery to get a piece of the tumour for a biopsy. On Tuesday, April 5th, 2022 he had the operation and we received the biopsy results around three weeks later. He was diagnosed with a grade two or three glioma, but they are still figuring out exactly which grade it is. They have set him up to do radiation and chemo simultaneously starting Tuesday, May 24th, so his body will be going through a lot on top of the paralysis he is experiencing.
The paralysis and loss of his driver's license caused him to lose his job and he has been struggling to find a new job and keep on top of bills while out of work. We ideally want him to be able to focus entirely on treatment and his health and not have to stress about how to work and provide for himself while he goes through this. We hope to raise enough money to help support him through his treatment and to help with medical costs and any experimental treatments that might be available. We thank you for any donations and encourage everyone who can't donate to share his gofundme and try to get the word out so we can help him!!
I will be withdrawing the funds on Rick’s behalf and sending them to him every time I receive them through an e-transfer, so there will be a record of everything I have sent to him for transparency. He will also have access to this account to keep track of what’s being donated. The money will go towards household bills during his treatment, recovery time and a potential second round of treatment, transportation to and from the hospital when needed and any excess medical expenses that come with his condition. We would also like to keep some of the money aside incase any experimental treatments or clinical trials become available that might not be covered, or only partially covered, by OHIP.