I am April, and I am raising funds for my dad, Russ. He has been diagnosed with Cancer of Unknown Origin, and started his first chemo last Wednesday. He tolerated it well! We are all super happy about that.

But, as I'm sure you can deduce, his diagnosis means they don't know exactly what type of cancer he has. They tried everything to figure it out. He's had CT scans, MRIs, blood tests, biopsies, an endoscopy, a PET scan, and more that I'm forgetting I'm sure.

And all this testing doesn't come free. So while we hate to ask, we do need to ask for some help from friends and family for currently owed medical bills, and the bills we know are coming from his current round of treatment.

Anything you can spare is greatly appreciated! I want to ease the burden from him while he's fighting and my mom while she's care-giving. And thank you in advance for any help at all!

For those who care to read further, here's brief history of his illness. Back in August, he started to lose weight. Which was something to keep an eye on, but nothing emergent, we thought. Eventually it became apparent that this was a continuing and ongoing problem, and the doctor visits started in mid October. They discovered a tumor in his abdomen. It encompasses parts of his liver, pancreas, stomach, and an important blood vessel in that area. Since then, he has been tested in every manner I can think of, and he's had an inpatient stay of around ten days. They still don't know where the tumor originated from, and are treating him with broadly useful chemotherapy drugs.

Thank you for reading this far, and even if you can't give, we appreciate your prayers and shares.

As he progresses through this diagnosis, we will post updates here as we are able.

Update 1/22: Russ is no longer tolerating the chemo well. He is getting additional fluids and supportive care before proceeding with future treatments.