Team Garth 2024

Our dear friends and family,

This is a difficult message to write and I'm (Annie) not even sure where to start... most of you are aware that my husband, Garth, was diagnosed in late 2018 with Ewing Sarcoma. He's been through so many cycles of chemo and many radiation treatments, but the disease keeps coming back. His kidneys have been injured over time due to the chemo, which is processed through the kidneys, and there have been at least two tumors pushing on the left kidney. The chemo he had in November and December (a total of 10 days) did not work, and in fact, made him really, really sick. On January 15 of this year, he went to the hospital to get another round of chemo. However, his lab work showed his hemoglobin was too low so he got blood instead. The following day he went back for labs and there was not much of an improvement, so he was admitted. He spent 12 days in the hospital and was discharged on January 27. During the time he was there, he had two MRIs and a PET scan which revealed what he already knew... there was new disease. He has a tumor right above the original spot in his sacrum (which is now scar tissue). He also has disease in his hip bones, which is replacing the bone marrow meaning his body can't make red blood cells as well. He also has lung nodules and fluid around the lungs. We were informed shortly before he was discharged that there are no more chemotherapy options for him. He is getting five days of radiation to hopefully relieve the pain the sacral tumor is causing as its pushing on the nerve bundle coming out of his spine. But this radiation is palliative at this point. A cure is highly unlikely. As a result, Garth is generally very tired and/or in some amount of pain. We now have a hospice nurse who will be working with us. He will be going on FMLA as he's not able to return to work, so we'll be losing his $3200 monthly income. We also have medical bills (thankfully he has insurance, but the costs are not covered 100%). We also want to make sure his daughters are taken care of. If you're able to help out, we will be so grateful! However, monetary donations are not the only way to help. We will also need assistance with driving the girls to various activities and meals are always welcome.

Please know we are at peace with this situation, and are looking forward to just spending quality time together with each other, and our family and friends.

If you have questions, please reach out to me. Much love to you all!