Hi all, as most of you may know, my dad was diagnosed with multiple myeloma back in 2017. He had his stem cell transplant, a year of remission, then continued treatment and maintained his normal life since.

Late last year, we started to see a decline, another round of radiation seemed to alleviate some pain, but he was still experiencing extreme fatigue and low blood pressure. My mom has been an amazing advocate and after having a bone marrow biopsy, he was diagnosed with MDS. This is likely a side effect from his years of treatment.

The Tom Parks you all know and love has lost a lot of his strength and even over 100lbs. Although in true form, he has maintained his sense of humor and is stubborn enough to beat this.

The treatment plan consists of a bone marrow transplant, for which we have a 100% match, but dad also has cardiac amyloidosis which needs to be under better control in order for him to undergo the transplant. Managing MDS means frequent blood transfusions and twice a week trips to main campus.

I took a leave of absence from work for multiple reasons, including dad's condition. My mom has had to take a decent amount of time off as well to accommodate these appointments. Plus we do not have the income anymore that dad was bringing in.

We are struggling with bills. Mom and I are doing everything we can to focus on treatments and manage everything else. We just need a little help to get over this hump.

My dad is an extremely special person. He is someone people remember after meeting. Recently when I stopped at a local beverage store that dad would always get lottery tickets from, the second I walked in the owner asked me about dad. He expressed how the employees were concerned and thinking about him. People that talked to my dad for maybe five minutes every few days or so noticed his absence. That's the kind of person my dad is.

Even if you can't donate money, please share this fundraiser and if you feel comfortable, share with a story about my dad that you will never forget. I think it will also help for him to read just how many people he has impacted.