The Graybill family
Spende geschützt
Hi Everyone. Several people have asked for a way to help my daughter's family, so I am creating this go fund me to help with any additional costs they may have due to her husband's (Erik) cancer. Most of you know their story, but I have included the information below from my daughter, Kristy:
Three years ago we found a lump in my husband’s neck. They removed half of his Thyroid and determined it was poorly differentiated...which is a more aggressive type of Thyroid cancer. After that, in 2015, he had 3 more surgeries to remove the remaining Thyroid, lymph nodes in his neck and one that was behind his heart. He had taken radiation in pill form twice and then 12 weeks of direct beam radiation to his throat. But they did not get it all before it spread to his stomach, lung and now another around his heart. For the past two years he has lived on Chemo pills, that are supposed to keep the cancer tumors small and from spreading (the one in his stomach even went away). There are approximately 5 kinds of these Chemo pills and each only work for about 1.5 years before they stop working. We are currently on the second and best type. We figured this would buy us 5-7 years before we had to pray for a miracle. There are other things we hope will work, like immunotherapy, but are not at the level he needs yet.
But now we have had a very big setback, he had been having more and more trouble breathing. As the pills had been working to control the tumors we were not super concerned and he went to the oncologist a few weeks ago. They immediately set him to a ENT where they determined he had a mass in his throat. They scheduled him for a Tracheotomy to secure his breathing a few weeks ago and did a few biopsies. They determined it was the same cancer but this time in his voice box. The only solution was to perform a full Larynectomy (removal of his voice box). I hated the thought of this because he is the extravert of the two of us and I knew it would kill him not to talk. But we learned to accept this and found out there were improvements for these things and he would be able to talk but still need to breathe through his neck. The important thing is he would still be with us. Well last Thursday, they went in to remove his voice box and tumor and were unable to perform the operation. From the massive amounts of radiation and surgeries he has a lot of scaring. The tumor was stuck to this scaring and in turn was stuck to his arteries in his neck. They are unable to remove the tumor without the possibility of a massive stroke. So although they cut him open, there was nothing to be gained.
He is now recovering from the surgeries and we have to meet with the doctors to see if there is anything we can do. I am praying that one of those remaining chemo pills can help or we can do clinical trials. I am also looking into homeopathic options and anything that can help. I will do anything in my power to keep my husband and the father of our baby girl alive. We adopted our baby girl months before this happened, and she is the light of his life. Please know that prayers or anything you know of are most welcome. Thank you all for your love and support at this time.
Three years ago we found a lump in my husband’s neck. They removed half of his Thyroid and determined it was poorly differentiated...which is a more aggressive type of Thyroid cancer. After that, in 2015, he had 3 more surgeries to remove the remaining Thyroid, lymph nodes in his neck and one that was behind his heart. He had taken radiation in pill form twice and then 12 weeks of direct beam radiation to his throat. But they did not get it all before it spread to his stomach, lung and now another around his heart. For the past two years he has lived on Chemo pills, that are supposed to keep the cancer tumors small and from spreading (the one in his stomach even went away). There are approximately 5 kinds of these Chemo pills and each only work for about 1.5 years before they stop working. We are currently on the second and best type. We figured this would buy us 5-7 years before we had to pray for a miracle. There are other things we hope will work, like immunotherapy, but are not at the level he needs yet.
But now we have had a very big setback, he had been having more and more trouble breathing. As the pills had been working to control the tumors we were not super concerned and he went to the oncologist a few weeks ago. They immediately set him to a ENT where they determined he had a mass in his throat. They scheduled him for a Tracheotomy to secure his breathing a few weeks ago and did a few biopsies. They determined it was the same cancer but this time in his voice box. The only solution was to perform a full Larynectomy (removal of his voice box). I hated the thought of this because he is the extravert of the two of us and I knew it would kill him not to talk. But we learned to accept this and found out there were improvements for these things and he would be able to talk but still need to breathe through his neck. The important thing is he would still be with us. Well last Thursday, they went in to remove his voice box and tumor and were unable to perform the operation. From the massive amounts of radiation and surgeries he has a lot of scaring. The tumor was stuck to this scaring and in turn was stuck to his arteries in his neck. They are unable to remove the tumor without the possibility of a massive stroke. So although they cut him open, there was nothing to be gained.
He is now recovering from the surgeries and we have to meet with the doctors to see if there is anything we can do. I am praying that one of those remaining chemo pills can help or we can do clinical trials. I am also looking into homeopathic options and anything that can help. I will do anything in my power to keep my husband and the father of our baby girl alive. We adopted our baby girl months before this happened, and she is the light of his life. Please know that prayers or anything you know of are most welcome. Thank you all for your love and support at this time.
Organisator
Sara Beth Sager
Organisator
Hollidaysburg, PA