
Scott's Fight Against Cancer
Donation protected
Our father and friend, Scott Potten, is battling terminal cancer. We need your support with this fight and mounting expenses.
Growing up, I always believed my father was tough. Whether it was the calluses on his hands or the scar down his chest from 2 open heart surgeries, to my sister and me, he was a superhero. His strength was tested when he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2011 at the age of 48. The man I looked at as Superman while growing up had a tough fight ahead of him. He underwent colon resection surgery followed by 6 months of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, less than a year later, we learned the cancer metastasized to his liver. My father endured another surgery and 6 more months of chemotherapy. At this point, we knew that if the cancer ever returned, it would be a harder fight than the previous two. In August of 2014, that news that I personally never thought I’d be given again had come. My father’s cancer was back in his liver, but this time had also spread into his abdomen wall. Refusing to accept the news that he had 6 months to a year to live, my father and my mother, Joyce, set out to find a clinical trial. In September of 2014, he was accepted into a clinical trial in Manhattan at Weill Cornell Medical Center. Three days a week, my father and mother would travel 70 miles one way into NYC, until this past month, when we learned that the clinical trial stopped working, and the cancer had metastasized into the lower part of his lungs.
This brings us to where we are today, May 2015. Currently, my father is undergoing a more aggressive chemotherapy in the hopes of slowing the cancer down until another clinical trial is found. He will not quit and continues to work through all of this, running a drywall company he has owned for over 30 years to financially support my family. The fact of the matter is, now it is becoming more difficult for him to work. As hard as I try to help with the business, being a college student, I just cannot do enough. My mother, a Maternity nurse at Morristown Medical Center, has been caring for my father on her days off, as well as accompanying my dad to doctor appointments. My sister, Jessica, is a college student and also works part time. Unfortunately, we just cannot keep up with the rising medical and life costs, along with the drop in household income. I speak for the entire Potten family when I say that we will never see ourselves as anything but proud. At this time though, I reach out to the hearts of all our friends and family and ask for help in a time of need. Anything will be more than our family could ever repay.
Anyone who knows my father will tell you what a caring person he really is. I’m proud to say that he is the best man I have ever known. He thanks you, my mother thanks you, and the entire rest of the Potten family thank you for your kind support. For me personally, I will never be able to show how grateful I am for everyone who has helped us, in one way or another, along this difficult journey. He will never give up.
Thank you,
Kyle Potten
Growing up, I always believed my father was tough. Whether it was the calluses on his hands or the scar down his chest from 2 open heart surgeries, to my sister and me, he was a superhero. His strength was tested when he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2011 at the age of 48. The man I looked at as Superman while growing up had a tough fight ahead of him. He underwent colon resection surgery followed by 6 months of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, less than a year later, we learned the cancer metastasized to his liver. My father endured another surgery and 6 more months of chemotherapy. At this point, we knew that if the cancer ever returned, it would be a harder fight than the previous two. In August of 2014, that news that I personally never thought I’d be given again had come. My father’s cancer was back in his liver, but this time had also spread into his abdomen wall. Refusing to accept the news that he had 6 months to a year to live, my father and my mother, Joyce, set out to find a clinical trial. In September of 2014, he was accepted into a clinical trial in Manhattan at Weill Cornell Medical Center. Three days a week, my father and mother would travel 70 miles one way into NYC, until this past month, when we learned that the clinical trial stopped working, and the cancer had metastasized into the lower part of his lungs.
This brings us to where we are today, May 2015. Currently, my father is undergoing a more aggressive chemotherapy in the hopes of slowing the cancer down until another clinical trial is found. He will not quit and continues to work through all of this, running a drywall company he has owned for over 30 years to financially support my family. The fact of the matter is, now it is becoming more difficult for him to work. As hard as I try to help with the business, being a college student, I just cannot do enough. My mother, a Maternity nurse at Morristown Medical Center, has been caring for my father on her days off, as well as accompanying my dad to doctor appointments. My sister, Jessica, is a college student and also works part time. Unfortunately, we just cannot keep up with the rising medical and life costs, along with the drop in household income. I speak for the entire Potten family when I say that we will never see ourselves as anything but proud. At this time though, I reach out to the hearts of all our friends and family and ask for help in a time of need. Anything will be more than our family could ever repay.
Anyone who knows my father will tell you what a caring person he really is. I’m proud to say that he is the best man I have ever known. He thanks you, my mother thanks you, and the entire rest of the Potten family thank you for your kind support. For me personally, I will never be able to show how grateful I am for everyone who has helped us, in one way or another, along this difficult journey. He will never give up.
Thank you,
Kyle Potten
Organizer
Joyce Potten
Organizer
Newton, NJ