Donation protected
Most of you all already know about my dad’s battle with cancer.. but for those who don’t, here is a brief overview of what has been going on the last four years:
09/25/15: Dad was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (nasal type).
02/03/16: Altru (GF) gave us the best news! They ruled Dad cancer-free. We also got a second opinion from Mayo Clinic in Rochester and they also confirmed his status.
10/18/18 (one day after Dad’s 58th birthday): Altru in Grand Forks confirmed Dad’s cancer was back.. he ended up going through several more rounds of chemo and radiation — we were told the doses were 7x stronger than what he had in 2015. The medical team told us that once the tumors shrunk up to 50%, we could proceed with the stem cell transplant..
02/15/19: Dad underwent the stem cell transplant down at the Mayo Clinic.
03/15/19: After 50 days in Rochester, we were finally able to bring Dad home!
04/03/19: After several days back and forth from home (Warroad) to the hospital in Roseau due to high fevers, Dad was instructed to come back down to Rochester as soon as possible so they could figure out what was causing his temperature to rise up over 104.
04/10/19: Mayo Clinic delivered the most devastating news.. they found infections in Dad’s lungs, gallbladder and kidneys which they have been treating with IV antibiotics. He also has a virus in his blood that they are not able to treat at the moment.. and to top everything off, we were told that after only 56 days in to the stem cell transplant, Dad’s cancer has already returned and has found its way into his bone marrow
As of now, all that we know is that this could potentially be a different type of Lymphoma (aside from his last two diagnoses’ of Non-Hodgkin’s) and that it is aggressive, fast growing and has already taken over up to 30% of his marrow.. we were also told that because of his extremely weakened state, he would not be a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. However, they did say that there were other options; very limited options, but options nonetheless. Due to the damage to his liver from all of the medications and previous chemotherapy, they want to try to continue with new medicine to treat this cancer. They have found a way to filter these medications through Dad’s kidneys versus his liver, but said there is a chance it could cause severe damage to his kidneys as well..
The medical team here in Rochester have not set up a concrete plan yet, but they have assured us that it is in the works. They are keeping Dad as comfortable as they can and have IV antibiotics and pain medications running around the clock.
It is a very hard thing to ask for help, especially when it is coming from someone as humble as my dad; which is why he is not the one writing this post right now. One thing that my family and I have come to learn in these last four years is that just because you’re sick doesn’t mean the bills will stop coming. My mom, Seng, has exhausted all of her short term disability funds and has not been working for the last 5+months due to taking on the role as Dad’s main caregiver again. Dad’s short term disability also ran out at the beginning of March and we have been struggling with the system ever since to get him approved for long term disability with no success.
Amongst the three of us kids, we have been scraping by to keep things afloat and help as much as we can with Mom and Dad’s bills at home, medical bills, travel and lodging, but it’s getting to be more than we all can handle right now on top of everything else.
For those that wish to donate, your support will help remove the added stress and strain on my parents as we fight to get Dad the best care he deserves. Thank you all so much for your love, support and prayers. We could not get through this without you all.
The Sysourath’s TEAM SEN
09/25/15: Dad was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (nasal type).
02/03/16: Altru (GF) gave us the best news! They ruled Dad cancer-free. We also got a second opinion from Mayo Clinic in Rochester and they also confirmed his status.
10/18/18 (one day after Dad’s 58th birthday): Altru in Grand Forks confirmed Dad’s cancer was back.. he ended up going through several more rounds of chemo and radiation — we were told the doses were 7x stronger than what he had in 2015. The medical team told us that once the tumors shrunk up to 50%, we could proceed with the stem cell transplant..
02/15/19: Dad underwent the stem cell transplant down at the Mayo Clinic.
03/15/19: After 50 days in Rochester, we were finally able to bring Dad home!
04/03/19: After several days back and forth from home (Warroad) to the hospital in Roseau due to high fevers, Dad was instructed to come back down to Rochester as soon as possible so they could figure out what was causing his temperature to rise up over 104.
04/10/19: Mayo Clinic delivered the most devastating news.. they found infections in Dad’s lungs, gallbladder and kidneys which they have been treating with IV antibiotics. He also has a virus in his blood that they are not able to treat at the moment.. and to top everything off, we were told that after only 56 days in to the stem cell transplant, Dad’s cancer has already returned and has found its way into his bone marrow
As of now, all that we know is that this could potentially be a different type of Lymphoma (aside from his last two diagnoses’ of Non-Hodgkin’s) and that it is aggressive, fast growing and has already taken over up to 30% of his marrow.. we were also told that because of his extremely weakened state, he would not be a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. However, they did say that there were other options; very limited options, but options nonetheless. Due to the damage to his liver from all of the medications and previous chemotherapy, they want to try to continue with new medicine to treat this cancer. They have found a way to filter these medications through Dad’s kidneys versus his liver, but said there is a chance it could cause severe damage to his kidneys as well..
The medical team here in Rochester have not set up a concrete plan yet, but they have assured us that it is in the works. They are keeping Dad as comfortable as they can and have IV antibiotics and pain medications running around the clock.
It is a very hard thing to ask for help, especially when it is coming from someone as humble as my dad; which is why he is not the one writing this post right now. One thing that my family and I have come to learn in these last four years is that just because you’re sick doesn’t mean the bills will stop coming. My mom, Seng, has exhausted all of her short term disability funds and has not been working for the last 5+months due to taking on the role as Dad’s main caregiver again. Dad’s short term disability also ran out at the beginning of March and we have been struggling with the system ever since to get him approved for long term disability with no success.
Amongst the three of us kids, we have been scraping by to keep things afloat and help as much as we can with Mom and Dad’s bills at home, medical bills, travel and lodging, but it’s getting to be more than we all can handle right now on top of everything else.
For those that wish to donate, your support will help remove the added stress and strain on my parents as we fight to get Dad the best care he deserves. Thank you all so much for your love, support and prayers. We could not get through this without you all.
The Sysourath’s TEAM SEN
Organizer and beneficiary
Melisa Olson
Organizer
Warroad, MN
Sengamphanh Sysourath
Beneficiary