Tim Akers is Fighting Leukemia
Donation protected
Hello everyone. Chase Akers here, Tim's son.
Here's the long and short of it. We need your help, and we need your help now.
Our friend and my dad Tim Akers is fighting leukemia, and he needs you to join him in this battle.
BACKGROUND:
In 2017, Tim was diagnosed with CML: Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. This is a form of leukemia that is most common in older males, and comes from a transfer problem between chromosomes 9 and 22. In simple terms, there is no known causation such as lifestyle, diet, or stress. CML is a cancer that, in milder forms, is treatable with a pill that behaves similarly to chemotherapy. Tim started this pill treatment in 2017 with slow and steady success , and had reached remission by 2019. His numbers and vitals were stable.
Sixty days ago, his oncologist said, "you are in remission." The recommendation was for regularly scheduled blood tests.
As far as we knew, he was good to go.
NEW DEVELOPMENT:
Around three weeks ago - Dad began having serious back pain. After being bedridden for a week, he sought treatment. He was given a potent steroid shot, muscle relaxers - and pain killers to treat the pain. This mixture of treatments ended up severely dehydrating him, resulting in two small seizures while at the doctor's office.
Once he was admitted to Vanderbilt, the doctors stabilized his vitals and began to run tests. A bone-marrow biopsy amongst other tests found that his CML had progressed to what doctors call BLAST PHASE - this means that the leukemia has progressed far beyond its initial "chronic phase" (the early phase manageable with a pill treatment) - and has moved into his bone marrow.
Blast phase, if untreated, can be fatal.
TREATMENT PROTOCOL:
Blast phase CML is treated with a combination of:
1. Chemotherapy
2. A bone marrow transplant
3. A possible stem-cell treatment
My Dad began his chemotherapy at Vanderbilt on Saturday August 8th, and will initially be in treatment for one month. During his initial 30-day stay, he will be receiving regular chemotherapy treatment. With regard to the bone marrow transplant and stem cell treatment, we will be looking at this AFTER his chemo treatment. We are hoping that the chemo will take care of the cancer in its entirety, which is the purpose of his initial month-long Vanderbilt stay.
WE NEED YOUR HELP:
We need to raise $100,000 in 90 days. This money will cover two things:
1. My dad's immediate expenses such as mortgage, and general bills and liabilities.
2. Medical expenses: cancer treatments come with enormous costs.
Any donation of any size will help us reach this goal. Please share this GoFundMe page to your friends and family, and your community.
REACHING OUR GOAL:
My father is a truly incredible man. He has touched the lives of so many of us with his heart, his laughter, and his unbridled joy in music. If you know him, you know the infectious laughter and tenacity with which he lives his life. You know the tenderness and soft heartedness he has for other people.
I have watched this man create joy for everyone around him, and he exudes the love of Jesus in his everyday life.
We are believing in Jesus, the healer Jehovah Rapha, for an absolute and complete miracle. We believe that Jesus uses people in our lives and in our communities to stand with us. We believe that he will conquer this mountain of cancer. Conquering a mountain begins with a single step.
Join us. Stand with us and fight on the frontlines.
______________
I will do my best to post updates via photos and video regularly. I am hoping for daily updates as I receive information from my mom Dianna, and my sister Camille. I will post these updates through my social handle @chaseakers (on all platforms). You can reach out to me via the GoFundMe communication methods.
Again, initial updates will be posted via feed post or story updates at @chaseakers
Thank you for sharing this campaign and encouraging your community to fight with us.
Thank you,
Chase Akers
__________
GoFundMe campaign required information:
1. Cameron Chase Akers - from Nashville, TN
2. Raising funds for my father's battle with cancer - Tim Akers
3. Funds will be spent on medical costs and family's liabilities while Tim cannot work.
4. Withdrawal plan - once campaign is closed, funds will be transferred to a monitored escrow account
5. Beneficiary - Tim Akers, see story and relation above.
__________
Here's the long and short of it. We need your help, and we need your help now.
Our friend and my dad Tim Akers is fighting leukemia, and he needs you to join him in this battle.
BACKGROUND:
In 2017, Tim was diagnosed with CML: Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. This is a form of leukemia that is most common in older males, and comes from a transfer problem between chromosomes 9 and 22. In simple terms, there is no known causation such as lifestyle, diet, or stress. CML is a cancer that, in milder forms, is treatable with a pill that behaves similarly to chemotherapy. Tim started this pill treatment in 2017 with slow and steady success , and had reached remission by 2019. His numbers and vitals were stable.
Sixty days ago, his oncologist said, "you are in remission." The recommendation was for regularly scheduled blood tests.
As far as we knew, he was good to go.
NEW DEVELOPMENT:
Around three weeks ago - Dad began having serious back pain. After being bedridden for a week, he sought treatment. He was given a potent steroid shot, muscle relaxers - and pain killers to treat the pain. This mixture of treatments ended up severely dehydrating him, resulting in two small seizures while at the doctor's office.
Once he was admitted to Vanderbilt, the doctors stabilized his vitals and began to run tests. A bone-marrow biopsy amongst other tests found that his CML had progressed to what doctors call BLAST PHASE - this means that the leukemia has progressed far beyond its initial "chronic phase" (the early phase manageable with a pill treatment) - and has moved into his bone marrow.
Blast phase, if untreated, can be fatal.
TREATMENT PROTOCOL:
Blast phase CML is treated with a combination of:
1. Chemotherapy
2. A bone marrow transplant
3. A possible stem-cell treatment
My Dad began his chemotherapy at Vanderbilt on Saturday August 8th, and will initially be in treatment for one month. During his initial 30-day stay, he will be receiving regular chemotherapy treatment. With regard to the bone marrow transplant and stem cell treatment, we will be looking at this AFTER his chemo treatment. We are hoping that the chemo will take care of the cancer in its entirety, which is the purpose of his initial month-long Vanderbilt stay.
WE NEED YOUR HELP:
We need to raise $100,000 in 90 days. This money will cover two things:
1. My dad's immediate expenses such as mortgage, and general bills and liabilities.
2. Medical expenses: cancer treatments come with enormous costs.
Any donation of any size will help us reach this goal. Please share this GoFundMe page to your friends and family, and your community.
REACHING OUR GOAL:
My father is a truly incredible man. He has touched the lives of so many of us with his heart, his laughter, and his unbridled joy in music. If you know him, you know the infectious laughter and tenacity with which he lives his life. You know the tenderness and soft heartedness he has for other people.
I have watched this man create joy for everyone around him, and he exudes the love of Jesus in his everyday life.
We are believing in Jesus, the healer Jehovah Rapha, for an absolute and complete miracle. We believe that Jesus uses people in our lives and in our communities to stand with us. We believe that he will conquer this mountain of cancer. Conquering a mountain begins with a single step.
Join us. Stand with us and fight on the frontlines.
______________
I will do my best to post updates via photos and video regularly. I am hoping for daily updates as I receive information from my mom Dianna, and my sister Camille. I will post these updates through my social handle @chaseakers (on all platforms). You can reach out to me via the GoFundMe communication methods.
Again, initial updates will be posted via feed post or story updates at @chaseakers
Thank you for sharing this campaign and encouraging your community to fight with us.
Thank you,
Chase Akers
__________
GoFundMe campaign required information:
1. Cameron Chase Akers - from Nashville, TN
2. Raising funds for my father's battle with cancer - Tim Akers
3. Funds will be spent on medical costs and family's liabilities while Tim cannot work.
4. Withdrawal plan - once campaign is closed, funds will be transferred to a monitored escrow account
5. Beneficiary - Tim Akers, see story and relation above.
__________
Organiser and beneficiary
Chase Akers
Organiser
Nashville, TN
Tim Akers
Beneficiary
