Tom's Dream

Tom’s Dream. Tom Odekirk is lovingly called Papa by his three year old granddaughter, Lilly. It is Tom’s dream when Lilly turns five years old to take her to her first day of Kindergarten. This doesn’t sound like a difficult or unusual request, however Tom has many health problems that make this “dream” seem like an unlikely event. Tom’s health problems began in the early 1980’s when he was diagnosed with sarcoidosis. At first it appeared to only be on his skin, but years later would affect his heart and lungs. Sacoidosis is an inflammatory disease where abnormal masses of tissue form in organs in the body. Tom was then diagnosed in the 1990’s with chronic kidney disease stage two. However, most of the time, Tom was able to live a normal good quality life. In 2001, Tom was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat. He became very weak and unstable. Tom had several heart ablations to try and correct his A-fib. None of them were successful. He was hospitalized several times and many different medications were tried. Finally it was decided he needed a pacemaker. The pacemaker improved the quality of Tom’s life. However this was short lived. Tom was then diagnosed with COPD and congestive heart failure. (The sarcoidosis was beginning to affect Tom’s heart and lungs.) In 2012, the old pacemaker was removed and Tom was given a new more advanced model. This seemed to improve Tom’s quality of life. He still has shortness of breath and becomes fatigued easily but is able to enjoy many low energy activities. Then in March of 2016 Tom was diagnosed with bladder cancer. He has had several Transurethral Resection cystoscopies. He completed six weeks of mitomycin chemotherapy treatments. Once a week, for six weeks, mitomycin is put directly into the bladder by a catheter. The first round of treatments appeared to be successful. However, Tom could not complete the second six week treatment due to blood and infection in the urine. Over the last year Tom has lost a lot of blood and has had continual UTI’s and several bouts of pneumonia. The tumors in his bladder continue to grow back at an alarming rate. The locations that the tumors grow back at and the appearance of the cancer is concerning to the doctors. The only treatment is continual surgeries, drugs and hospitalization. Tom is currently on twelve different prescription meds. The bleeding and infection needs to stop before Tom can receive BCG cancer treatments. (The doctors next suggested course of action.) Tom and his wife Sunny live in a working class neighborhood in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. They are very close to daughter Lydia and granddaughter Lilly. In the past Lydia and Lilly have temporarily lived with their parents/grandparents due to Lydia’s chronic illnesses. Tom and Sunny did what they could to help support them and be of assistance to them. Lydia and Lilly now have their own residence, and Lydia is doing better. She does however have relapses/flare-ups and needs her mother’s assistance frequently. Tom is a retired machinist. He worked at a nearby manufacturing plant for 43 years. Because of mounting medical bills he continues to work two ten hour days a week for a local business. Tom’s wife Sunny is a teacher/library aide at an elementary school in a neighboring town. Tom served in the Navy from 1962-1964. He was on the USS Independence during the Cuban Missile Crisis at the Bay of Pigs. The ship was at wartime cruising for 59 days. Tom has never smoked. (Bladder cancer is more predominant in smokers than nonsmokers.) It is the belief of Tom and his family that most of his health problems are due to a prolonged exposure to harmful pollutants/lung irritants either in the navy, workplace, or both. (Tom’s X-rays show asbestosis, an asbestos related disease.) The Odekirk’s would also like to explore stem-cell therapy for Tom’s illnesses. However is very expensive and the insurance companies will not pay for this. Tom and Sunny have both had to miss work due to his hospitalizations and doctor visits. The medical bills are mounting. Tom has dreams…………….. He has grown very close to his granddaughter Lilly. He wants to take her to her first day of Kindergarten. Tom wants to teach Lilly how to swim and how to ride a bicycle. He has other dreams……………He wants to have the strength to enjoy hunting, fishing, canoeing and hiking again. He would like to be able to spend time with his wife doing normal activities most people take for granted. He wants to be able to mow his lawn, take out the garbage, snow shovel/snow-blow, and tinker in his woodworking workshop. He wants to be able to pay his bills and get groceries without worrying, “How am I going to continue to do this?” Can you help Tom make some of his dreams come true? Any financial assistance and or prayers would be greatly appreciated by Tom and his family.