Tom Reynolds’s Fund for Recovery: Melanoma

UPDATE 08/12/2024:

After Tom’s surgery to remove lymph nodes and melanoma from his head, and almost 2 years of treatment ranging from radiation to chemotherapy to immunotherapy, there have been significant reduction of the tumors in Tom’s lung, liver, and bone. The immunotherapy was successful in this regard and that is a victory. We are grateful for this progress.

Unfortunately, regardless of the past 2 years of treatment, Tom’s condition worsened in the way of Malignant Melanoma invading his brain; with the worst of the lesions/tumors presenting in the frontal lobe.

The 3 seizures he’s had over the past couple of weeks, though absolutely traumatic and scary for his family and his girlfriend, eventually led him back to Mayo Clinic for testing.

From this point, Tom and his family have decided to stay in the Mayo Clinic area for 14 days before he starts the clinical trial to treat the brain cancer. Keeping him close to Mayo at this time is important to his family.

Please continue to donate to Liz personally on Venmo https://venmo.com/u/Liz-Peterson-620

or to THIS go fund me page.

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ORIGINAL FUND DESCRIPTION BELOW

This fundraiser is to support our friend Thomas Reynolds, who was diagnosed with stage 3 Melanoma Cancer in October 2022.

On his 32nd birthday, 10/11/22, Tom had an emergency procedure done to remove a large tumor from his head and 12 lymph nodes from his neck.

Everyone who knows Tom, knows that he is pure sunshine. That he sees the beauty in everything. So its no surprise that while he is staying at Hope Lodge, he has not only been staying positive for himself, but making his new community a brighter place. Hope lodge is a facility that houses adults with late stage cancer who don’t live close enough to under ago the aggressive treatments necessary. Seeing snapchats of him decorating Christmas cookies for the children at the Ronald McDonald House, really puts it into perspective what kind of person our amazing friend Tom is.

While his face and neck muscles learn to move again, he is having to undergo radiation therapy focused specifically on the surgical sites. On top of that, he visits the infusion clinic at Mayo to get immunotherapy, and has weekly visits with his team of doctors and therapists. His multiple appointments a day range from as early as 7am to as late as midnight. This routine is most certainly exhausting and agonizing, but still Tom persists.

Doing radiation therapy while also receiving immunotherapy is the most aggressive approach but it’s the one that gets Tom to recovery

Classic Tom. Go big or Go home.

If you’re gonna have cancer you might as well be as metal as possible about it right?

While others would look at this challenge and lose steam, Tom is a fighter and he has so much to fight for. Thomas lives in Manitowoc with his sister Liz, her husband Richard and their two beautiful daughters Lily and Violet. Just down the street from his parents, Paul and Cathy. This is the closest family you will ever meet in your life, and they have been burning the candle at both ends to get Tom everything he needs to overcome this.

We are asking for your help in any way possible, as every single dollar makes a difference. This man and his family are using every resource possible to get Tom the medical attention he requires and to keep our friend with us and with his family.

If Tom ever made you smile, if he ever helped you pick your books up in the hall after a bully swiped them from your hands, or made sure you didn’t get your shit rocked in the pit, if he ever saved your life at a party, or stood by your side during the worst day of your life, please consider making a contribution to this cause. We love our friend with all our hearts and want to do everything possible to get him back on stage with his bands. To do that, we must ensure that his life during recovery is comfortable, and that his life after recovery is as meaningful and worry free as possible.

Thank You

(Written by Caroline Ojala and Alexandra Kuckkahn)